Dodgers gear up for potential playoff preview

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio's Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LOS ANGELES -- Last season, the Dodgers clinched their 10th National League West title in the past 11 years on Sept. 17.

After popping the champagne and having a celebration in the visiting clubhouse in Seattle, the Dodgers said all the right things. They wanted to create their own urgency despite not having anything to play for over the last 20 or so games of the regular season.

But in reality, it was difficult for the Dodgers to flip the switch back on for the postseason. They paid the price, losing all three games to the Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series.

This year, things are much different for Los Angeles. With the D-backs (76-58) and Padres (76-60) each having a breakout second half -- boasting two of the best records in the Majors since the All-Star break (27-10 and 26-11, respectively), the Dodgers (80-54) are now in a legit pennant race. That race will only intensify over the weekend as the Dodgers visit Arizona for a four-game set against the D-backs, who trail Los Angeles by just four games.

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“Those guys obviously are playing great baseball, and it’s going to be boisterous -- a lot of people, a lot of Dodgers fans, a lot of D-backs fans,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s gonna be a great series.”

The set at Chase Field won’t be what decides the NL West. By the end of the series there will still be over 20 games left for each team until the end of the regular season. But the four games provide an opportunity for both the Dodgers and D-backs. For Arizona, it’s a chance to close the gap and make a real push for the division title in September.

For Los Angeles, the four-game set is an opportunity to create some real separation from the same club that knocked them out of the postseason in 2023.

“We’ve faced these guys a lot,” Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen said. “They know what we have and we know what they have. I think the biggest thing is execution. Who’s going to execute better? Baseball from top to bottom is just so much deeper, I think, than it’s probably been in a lot of years. … If you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best teams.”

Both teams lined up their starting rotation to show off their best. The Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone and Jack Flaherty set to pitch in the four-game set, with the Sunday game scheduled to either be a bullpen game or a Justin Wrobleski start. The D-backs will counter with their top four starters: Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez.

If there was a postseason series between the two teams, this is what the pitching matchups would look like. Make no mistake about it: There will be a playoff atmosphere and both fan bases will be well represented at Chase Field.

“I just want to play good baseball,” Roberts said. “And I think that’s the bar, the gear that I’m looking for, to kind of sustain that. I think over the last two weeks, I don’t know what the win-loss is, but I think that we’re playing good baseball. Those other two teams are playing even better baseball, or winning more games, but I’m pleased with how we’ve been playing, and I just want to sustain that until the end of the season.”

Both teams will catch some breaks due to injuries. The Dodgers won’t have to worry about Ketel Marte, Gabriel Moreno or Christian Walker, who has dominated Los Angeles in the past. Arizona won’t face Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Tyler Glasnow, who are both on the injured list with their respective arm injuries.

The next month will decide who wins the NL West. But it all starts this weekend in the desert.

“We’ve been clinching two or three weeks before the season is over and you’re kinda just looking ahead to the end of the season,” said Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts. “Maybe this [race] will keep us going through the end of the season and then maybe that switch doesn’t necessarily have to be turned on or whatever. It just stays on the whole time. We’ll see.”