Facing 3rd straight 1st-round bye, Dodgers have a new plan of attack

LOS ANGELES -- Since the expanded postseason field came into play before the 2022 season, no team has more experience navigating through the “bye week” than the Dodgers.

After securing the best record in the Majors, Los Angeles will have a “bye” for the Wild Card Series for the third consecutive season. Given how things ended the first two tries, the club is still trying to find the formula that works.

In 2022, the Dodgers had a few simulated games before the start of the National League Division Series against the Padres. Going into the series against San Diego, Los Angeles was ready and rested. But after bowing out in four games, it knew it needed to change up its preparation.

Last October, the Dodgers did just that. They decided to allow a couple thousand fans to sit in on the simulated games. They had the in-game hosts try to replicate what happens during a regular-season game. They even contemplated having walk-up songs before each at-bat.

They hoped all those things would work better than the previous year. But even with those five days off between the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason, the Dodgers were swept by the D-backs in the NLDS.

“I remember last year we talked about it beforehand and we said we need to be more competitive in those off-days,” said utilityman Chris Taylor. “It’s hard to emulate the game situation when there’s nothing on the line. You can have live at-bats all you want, but you’re not getting those in-game jitters. You just can’t emulate that.”

Instead of trying to emulate those feelings this time around, the Dodgers will try something different. Yes, they’ll be taking live batting practice and playing in simulated games on Wednesday and Thursday. They believe that’ll be enough to get ready for either the Braves or Padres.

But their biggest change will come off the field. As opposed to coming to Dodger Stadium to play a simulated game and then going home, the Dodgers are going to stay together as a team. Miguel Rojas, Max Muncy and Will Smith organized a pair of team watch parties. They’ll be watching -- and internally scouting -- both Atlanta and San Diego. Keeping that team camaraderie through the downtime is what Los Angeles believes it’s been lacking the past few seasons.

“I think sometimes just the schedule itself lends itself to just some individuality, but you've got to be intentional to try to get dinners,” said manager Dave Roberts. “We're gonna have a watch party on Tuesday that the players kind of put together. Wednesday, we’re gonna do the same thing after the workout. So it’s just things like that, trying to make sure that guys keep that bond.”

The reality is that no team outside of the Astros, who won the World Series in 2022, has been able to fully figure out the best way to prepare in the five days off. In MLB’s latest postseason format, eight teams have had first-round byes over the past two years. Those teams are a combined 3-5 in the Division Series. The Dodgers are 0-2.

Teams with a first-round bye in 2022-23 averaged 3.63 runs per game in the postseason, compared to an average of four runs per game by teams without a first-round bye, though, of course, runs are always at a premium in the postseason.

"I mean, for us, it's just trying to do the same thing every day,” said outfielder Teoscar Hernández, who will go through the layoff for the first time. “Trying to stay positive, do the things that we have to do on the baseball field. I know we clinched the postseason and everything, but like I always say, we're not going to go out there and not play hard, not play the way we've played the whole season and enjoy what we do."

This bye week, however, will be the most beneficial one for the Dodgers. It gives Freddie Freeman, who suffered a sprained right ankle and missed the last three regular-season games, more time to recover. The club is expecting him to be back in the lineup for Game 1 on Saturday.

It also gives Rojas a chance to treat a tear in his left adductor muscle. For the bullpen, it gives them a chance to reset after being used heavily over the last couple of months. In the end, the Dodgers -- and every other team -- are still trying to figure things out. They are hoping the third time's a charm.

“You still gotta prepare guys, and I expect us to come out with the same intensity we did against the Padres in that last series,” Roberts said. “If we do that, I really like our chances.”