The Dodgers hung on and clinched the National League West division title, finishing the regular season with a 93-69 record. It was somewhat of a frustrating slog with the injuries, slumps and bullpen meltdowns but the Dodgers got it done. The Dodgers enter this postseason in unfamiliar territory. They won the NL West, but finished with the third seed in the National League playoff order. That means for the first time since 2021, and only second time ever the Dodgers will have to play in the National League Wild Card round. They’ll have to win 13 games instead of 11 to win the World Series.
Thanks to an epic Mets collapse, the Dodgers are playing the Cincinnati Reds, who snuck into the playoffs as the third wild card with an 83-79 record. The Dodgers released their Wild Card roster with only a couple of surprises. Michael Conforto was left off the roster in favor of the long and distinguished postseason resume of Kike Hernandez. Justin Dean also made the roster. On the pitching side, Clayton Kershaw was not on the roster, as expected, but Roki Sasaki, and Justin Wrobleski made the cut. Will Smith is still not able to catch, but he was on the roster and the Dodgers reported he would be able to pinch-hit if needed. Ben Rortvedt called the balls and strikes behind the plate.
This postseason the Dodgers have the opposite problem that they had last year. All of their starting pitchers are healthy and dominating, but this time they have no bullpen. All of their relievers are either injured, out for the season, ineffective or outright terrible. With that being said, the Dodgers are going to need their starters to go as deep into games as possible to minimize their bullpen exposure. This was evident tonight as three Dodger’s relievers (Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez, and Jack Dreyer) gave up five earned runs on three hits and four walks in the top of the eight inning. That made the game way too close for comfort. Dodger fans looked scared that we were starting to witness another bullpen meltdown. The Dodgers needed every one of their ten runs.
Still the Dodgers put on quite a show in game 1 at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday evening, bludgeoning the Reds 10-5. The starting pitching matchup saw Hunter Green versus Blake Snell. The Reds don’t hit lefties well and Snell was mostly dominant for seven strong innings.
LEADOFF HOMER? SHO OFF. pic.twitter.com/xD0rUBoRHB
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 1, 2025
The Dodger’s offense was equally as good, scoring ten runs on thirteen hits. The boys in blue blasted five home runs. Shohei Ohtani led off the game with a laser home run. He added another in the Dodger’s four-run fourth. Teoscar Hernadez also hit two home runs off of Green. The first came in that fourth inning, and the second was an oppo shot that came in the fifth. Tommy Edman got into the act homering in the fourth (following Teo’s first homer), and Ben Rortvedt knocked in a run in the bottom of the eighth after a Miguel Rojas single, a fly ball and a throwing error. The Dodgers were up 8-0 and it looked like it was going to be a laugher. Unfortunately Snell is a five inning pitcher, and he started to lose effectiveness in the seventh inning. Snellzilla gave up two runs in that frame on an Austin Hayes single, a Spencer Steer single and an Elly De La Cruz force out. Tyler Stephenson’s RBI double plated the second run to make the score 10-2 Dodgers.
TEOSCAR AND TOMMY GO BACK-TO-BACK. pic.twitter.com/K7H4yGKRNb
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 1, 2025
2HOHEI OHTANI. pic.twitter.com/jyPwHiQvXB
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 1, 2025
All appeared to be calm with an eight run lead going into the top of the eighth. But no lead is safe with the Dodger’s bullpen this season. As it happened throughout the regular season, the relievers came in and walked everyone, four walks, three hits and three pitching changes later the Reds had narrowed the lead to 10-5. Fortunately good old reliable Blake Treinen restored order by tossing a clean ninth inning. He struck out Matt McLain, TJ Fredel, and got former Dodger Gavin Lux to pop out. The Dodgers win game 1. The Dodgers look for the knockout blow tomorrow night as Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound. The Reds will give the ball to right hander Zack Little. There was nothing little about those Dodger bats. They’ll need to keep slugging if the Dodgers want to beat the Reds and their bullpen. Twelve more wins.
I am not very optimistic about the Dodgers chances of winning another championship with our current bullpen. Unless they miraculously get their shit together, we are toast.
Yeah, even with the starting pitching really coming through, I still think the odds are against the Dodgers winning the WS this year.
Just too hard and too many variables.
That said, it’s nice to see them playing well.