Well, Red October is here, and it starts with a bang. The Dodgers and their four (at least?) future Hall-of-Famers arrive in the Cradle of Liberty to kick off their best-of-5 NLDS this afternoon. It is a heavyweight fight between two of the consistently highest spending franchises in baseball. The Phillies have won the last couple of season series between the two. The Dodgers won the 2024 World Series. The Phillies had the better record and won home field for this series, and a bye to get here. The Dodgers won the NL West and swept Cincinnati.
Most teams would kill for most of either of these rosters, so there’s not many weaknesses. Both teams have been able to get to the others bullpens this year. I still think the bullpens will decide this series though. Dave Roberts does not push his starters super deep into games, which makes sense given their health. It’s hard to flip the switch on that in the postseason, even though they are healthy. Meanwhile the Phillies are built around their starting staff. Even without ace Zach Wheeler, they are the more durable staff, when on.
Both lineups are going to have their moments in this series. I’m assuming both teams will have reasonably decent starting pitching though. So this comes down to the bullpens. I think both probably lose at least one. I think the Dodgers blow two. Those guys, even with Sasaki and Kershaw out there, just aren’t good. For that reason, I’m saying the Phillies win this series. I’m going to say they do it in four.
In the other series, I’ve got Brewers in five, Yankees in five, and Tigers in five.
Welcome to Red October.
Apocalypse Vibes 