Friday, October 2, 2026

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2026

The Los Angeles Dodgers will face the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. The series starts Saturday afternoon under a 100-degree sun.

Okay. Drink water.

The Braves fought hard against the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card series, so they are tired. They are dangerous because they have momentum. However, their bullpen is tired. Their offense didn’t perform well in the Wild Card series.

The Dodgers have experience with a six-day layout. They have players managing injuries. No player is 100 percent at this point of the season.

Shohei Ohtani is a question mark. Since July, he has stunk. He is a shadow of himself. He doesn’t have good power or bat control. In the last five games of the season, he didn’t impress anyone by going 5-for-21 with eight strikeouts. The Dodgers and their fans hope he performs well in the NLDS.

In his Friday press conference, Dave Roberts used the word “hope” a lot. It doesn’t give Dodger fans warm fuzzy feelings. They wanted to hear confidence from the manager, but Roberts was saying the truth.

With any team going into the postseason, they hope they will play well. I hope the Dodgers will have a three-peat. But I know nothing.

The Dodgers could come into this postseason cocky and fall on their face. They can come into the postseason realistic and succeed.

Winning the postseason is like a roll of the dice.

Do the Dodgers have the talent to three-peat?

Definitely.

Will they do it?

I don’t know. I hope they will.

Freddie Freeman isn’t himself. He should collect singles and leave the power to the rest of the team.

The Dodgers need Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker, and Andy Pages to perform well offensively. They did in September. Pages played six games after missing a month with a broken hand and looked good.

The Dodgers decided to start Tarik Skubal in Game 1 of the NLDS. People are scratching their heads about this decision. After all, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is their best starter.

I am not. Skubal likes to pitch on regular rest. He pitched last Friday night. The Braves don’t hit left-handed pitching well, and Skubal is left-handed.

Yamamoto should be saved for the clincher or when the Dodgers are facing elimination.

For the first time in this Dodger dominance run, the team has a great starting rotation and a good bullpen.

Tanner Scott has had a good year as the Dodgers’ closer, and the Dodgers have an effective Edwin Díaz. Jack Dreyer, Alex Vesia, and Justin Wrobleski are effective left-handed relievers.

Roki Sasaki, who had a great second half before developing a nasty blister, is the secret bullpen weapon.

The Dodgers and the Braves are older teams with much playoff experience, so little fazes them. They don’t make many defensive errors. If the Dodgers can keep Ronald Acuña Jr. off the bases, the Dodgers shouldn’t have many problems with potential base stealers. The Braves don’t strike out much, so the Dodgers need good defense.

This matchup is a good one to start the postseason. Although the Braves defeated the Dodgers in five out of six games, the Dodgers have a good possibility of winning the NLDS.

We hope.