Heading into the playoffs, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a lot going for themselves.
Due to finishing with the best record in the National League, LA will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs before a possible World Series appearance. Shohei Ohtani is on a historic heater — and he is undoubtedly going to be the NL MVP. The lineup as a whole is as deep as you’ll find across the sport. The bullpen is elite and is unquestionably a top-five unit within the postseason.
Walker Buehler is back healthy, and pitching like he did a few years ago. When throwing in trade deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty and the return of the $300 million man Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the rotation is in much better shape than public opinion would lead you to believe.
Despite these facets, practically no one is giving the Dodgers much chance to make it to the World Series. A recent ESPN poll had 22 of 27 writers picking the rival Padres to beat the Dodgers in a possible NLDS series (assuming San Diego gets past Atlanta in the wildcard round).
With the narrative out there that the big, bad Padres are the top dog in the National League, is this lack of support publicly actually a GOOD thing for the Dodgers?
In a word, yes.
We’ve seen the Dodgers underachieve greatly over the last handful of seasons. They’d zoom out to a large divisional lead, essentially clinch a playoff spot in early September, and not play a meaningful baseball game for upwards of a month. By the time the postseason came around, the team was not only rusty but extremely tight. The expectations placed on this franchise are higher than any other in the Major Leagues today. Anything short of a World Series appearance is a massive disappointment.
Things are different this year — and that might not be a bad thing. The Dodgers were in a very competitive race throughout September into the final week of the season. This should help in keeping the players sharp. Beating San Diego two out of three games to clinch the division at home in LA was a massive bright spot heading towards postseason play. The same can be said for what’s turned into a deep bench. Austin Barnes, Andy Pages, Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor, and Kevin Kiermeier all were smacking the baseball leading up to the end of the regular season.
So in other words, the team should be not only fresh but motivated and highly dialed in via how the season shook out. Plus, you’ve also got a team loaded with talent that isn’t being crushed by the expectations of the media. What does all of this mean, exactly?
Weirdly, a team featuring Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith, and others could end up being underrated once they kick off play on Saturday evening. For the rest of the league, that could be a scary proposition.
