Finally, seven years later, Shohei Ohtani will make his major league postseason debut when the two National League Division Series begin Saturday.
Ohtani became the first player in major league history to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season in his first year with the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who rescued him from the cross-town Angels with a $700 million free agent contract last winter.
The Dodgers, in the playoffs for the 12th straight season, will have home field advantage in a best-of-five series against the San Diego Padres. San Diego won the season series and has been the best team in baseball since the All-Star break.
NL East winner Philadelphia will make its third straight NLDS appearance and will have the home field advantage over East rival the New York Mets. The teams have met 1,081 times in the regular season since the expansion Mets joined the league in 1962, but their is their first playoff match.
No. 2 seed Philadelphia (95-67) vs No. 5 seed New York (89-73)
Saturday — New York (Kodai Senga, 1-0. 3.38 ERA) at Philadelphia (Zack Wheeler, 16-7, 2.57), FOX, 4:08 pm ET
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Sunday — New York at Philadelphia, FS1, 4:08 pm ET
Tuesday — Philadelphia at New York, TBD, TBD
Wednesday — Philadelphia at New York, TBD, TBD (if necessary)
Oct. 11 — New York at Philadelphia,TBD, TBD (if necessary)
Season series: Philadelphia won, 7-6. The teams met seven times in the final 16 days of the regular season, and the Mets enter with momentum after taking three of four Sept. 19-22 to keep their playoff drive alive. Brandon Nimmo beat Wheeler with a solo homer in a 2-1 victory in the last meeting Sept. 22.
Players to watch/things to know
Philadelphia: DH Kyle Schwarber (38 homers, 104 RBIs) and 1B Bryce Harper (30/87) lead an offense that finished in among the top three in then league while persevering through injury losses of SS Trea Tuner and J.T. Realmuto. Both have returned.
Harper is a recent postseason a star. He hit .324 with 11 homers, 21 RBIs and a 1.137 OPS in the Phillies’ 30 postseason games the last two years, when they reached the World Series in 2022 and the NLCS in 2023.
The Phillies have a formidable rotation. Wheeler, who finished the season with 11 straight quality starts, has the lowest postseason WHIP (0.73) of any player in major league history with at least 10 starts, ahead of Christy Mathewson and Madison Bumgarner. Their top four starters have double-digit wins and ERAs under 3.60, and trade deadline acquisition Carls Estevez added a power arm to the bullpen.
New York
“You Gotta Believe” have given way to “OMG” at Citi Field. The Mets won 20 of their last 29 regular-season games, the best record in the majors in that stretch, to reach the playoffs, and 1B Pete Alonso made major league history with his three-run homer in a 4-2 victory Thursday to send them past Milwaukee.
Alonso was the first player to hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning of a winner-take-all postseason game, according to OptaSTATS. He did it with a choke-up-on-the-bat approach against Devin Williams, one of the premier closers in the game. The Mets enter the series with one day off after playing 45 innings from Monday-Thursday.
SS Francisco Lindor, likely to finish second behind Ohtani in NL MVP voting, was one stolen base short of a 30/30/30 season. He had 33 homers and 39 doubles with a 138 OPS+. His 17.4 defensive fWAR was third in the majors.
Senga was activated from the injured list for Saturday’s game. He was sideline with calf and triceps injuries this season and made only one start.
No. 1 seed Los Angeles (98-64) vs No. 4 seed San Diego (93-69)
Saturday — San Diego (Dylan Cease, 14-11, 3.47) at Los Angeles (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 7-2, 3.00), FS1, 8:38 pm ET
Sunday — San Diego at Los Angeles, FS1, 8:03 pm pm ET
Tuesday — Los Angeles at San Diego, TBD, TBD
Wednesday — Los Angeles at San Diego, TBD, TBD (if necessary)
Oct. 11 — San Diego at Los Angeles, TBD, TBD (if necessary)
Season series: San Diego won, 8-5. The teams opened the season by splitting two games in South Korea and the Padres won the next three series before the Dodgers took two out of three to clinch the NL West in the final week of the season.
Players to watch/things to know
Los Angeles
Leadoff hitter Ohtani has had a magical first season in the NL. He will win the NL MVP award, not only because of the 50/50 season but also because he is the first player in major league history to finish in the top five in the majors in runs (134, first), homers (54, second), RBIs (130, second), stolen bases (59, second), hits (197, fourth) and walks (81, fourth). RBIs because an official stat in 1920.
Yamamoto’s return and trade deadline acquisitions starter Jack Flaherty and closer Michael Kopech have stabilized a staff that has dealt with injuries throughout the year and will be without Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw in the playoffs.
First baseman Freddie Freeman (22 homers, 89 RBIs) missed the final three games of the regular season after suffering a sprained right ankle while running out a roundball, but he is expected to play Saturday.
Ohtani, Mookie Betts (19/75), Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez (33/99) are the best 1-4 group in baseball. The Dodgers have lost in the NLDS the last two years.
San Diego
The Padres have some recent history on their side. Not only did they win the season series against the Dodgers, they eliminated the Dodgers in the 2022 NLDS, losing the first game at Dodger Stadium before winning the next three at home. They are 19-8 at Petco Park since the All-Star break.
General manager A.J. Preller has had a strong ROI. Offseason trade acquisitions Michael King and Cease finished in the top nine in NL ERA, May acquisition Luis Arraez won his third straight batting title and setup men Tanner Scott and Jason Adam strengthened an already strong bullpen in front of closer Robert Suarez (36 saves).
Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr. anchor a lineup that includes Jackson Merrill, who should be the NL Rookie of the Year with his 5.3 WAR per FanGraphs. Game 2 starter Joe Musgrove will miss the series after suffering an elbow injury.
