EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsTo the Los Angeles Dodgers, the bye used to be an obstacle. In 2022 and 2023, they won enough games to skip the wild-card round, only to be on their heels against inferior division series opponents who easily dispatched them. The break, in their minds, helped trigger an early exit. And yet, it remains the overwhelming preference.They don't want their season distilled to a best-of-three series, which amounts to a coin flip.Besides, they could use the rest."There's a lot of us kind of limping toward the end here," Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. "A lot of aches and pains this year."Freeman is at the center of a Dodgers position-player group that is the oldest in the sport -- one that has also played a lot more baseball than any other over these past 40 or so months. The Dodgers conquered the bye on their way to a championship in 2024 and experienced the toll of having to overcome four playoff rounds en route to last year's title.Now, as they look to become the first National League team to three-peat, they'll watch as the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies fight for the right to play them in the NL Division Series, which begins Saturday.The Dodgers lost each of their past five series against playoff teams this season, going a combined 2-14 against the Braves, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts dismissed those struggles recently."I don't put any stock into it," he said. "Once you get to the postseason, it's a different season."The Dodgers believe their toughest battles are waged internally. If their pitchers are healthy, if their hitters are on track, if their roles are defined, they consider themselves superior. But this season has tested that. A $380 million payroll did not rid them of concerns, many of which they'll carry into October.Below, we explore the ways the two-time defending champions might be vulnerable this postseason.The offense has been inconsistent all season. Will it produce in October?Internally, the offense represents the Dodgers' biggest concern going into the playoffs, a time of year when runs are exceedingly difficult to manufacture.This, more than anywhere else, is where age could be a factor. Their .219/.324/.381 slash line with runners in scoring position in September was cause for alarm. And so was Freeman, who batted .184 and produced only one extra-base hit all month while continuing to bat second, third or fourth.The Dodgers' offense was especially bad in July and August, putting up a .699 OPS that ranked 22nd among the 30 teams.Some signs of life have emerged recently. Teoscar Hernndez opened his stance, got healthier and started pulverizing the baseball. Mookie Betts found his rhythm and began to produce the way he did in the early 2020s. Kyle Tucker reworked his pregame routine with the Dodgers' hitting coaches, found a way to slot his swing more consistently and went on a nice run, ending a miserable first season in L.A. on a positive note.Add Will Smith looking more like his All-Star self, Andy Pages making it back from a hand fracture with little incident, and Shohei Ohtani returning from the injured list -- more on him shortly -- and you have the makings of a group capable of meeting its lofty expectations.But that doesn't mean the Dodgers' offense is humming.Maybe Freeman fixes himself during the bye, not unlike how he found something in the days between the NL Championship Series and World Series in 2024. Maybe Tucker's recent run is a sign he's finally back, not a mirage like the one the Dodgers experienced from their $60 million-a-year outfielder in July. Maybe this version of Betts and Hernndez changes the dynamic entirely. But there's uncertainty here.For an aging lineup that has played a lot of baseball over these past three years, the bye could be a godsend. Or, like in 2022 and 2023, it could be a death knell for an offense seeking momentum.Ohtani has been hurt and won't pitch in the playoffs. Is he healthy enough?The Dodgers were initially encouraged by how Ohtani was swinging and moving upon returning to the lineup in the middle of last week, but as the days went on and the production lagged, concern resurfaced.Ohtani went 5-for-21 with eight strikeouts and only one walk over the last five regular-season games. There were positives within that stretch -- eight batted balls of at least 98 mph, two flyouts to the center-field warning track, an opposite-field double off a 103 mph Mason Miller fastball -- but also plenty of negatives, especially during the weekend series at Oracle Park.If he's rusty, this five-day layoff certainly won't help. If he's still compromised, it'll only get harder once high-pressure games get stacked atop one another. Roberts said he doesn't believe it's the latter, instead pinning Ohtani's struggles to the anxiousness of someone who knew he had few opportunities to get his timing right. In September, Ohtani played in only eight games."When you haven't played a lot," Roberts told reporters in San Francisco on Saturday, "there's something in you that wants to swing the bat, that wants to get hits, and knowing you don't have a lot of time left in the season."Three weeks ago, there was no bigger concern on the Dodgers than Ohtani. He had already been ruled out of pitching, had accumulated seven hits and 22 strikeouts in his previous 54 at-bats, and the ailments that had affected him on the mound -- the sore left knee, the tight right biceps -- had seemingly migrated to the batter's box.On Sept. 9, when the Dodgers finally decided to put Ohtani on the IL, there was no telling what to expect the rest of the way. There still isn't. Ohtani will continue to hit at the top of the Dodgers' lineup -- first against right-handers, perhaps second against left-handers -- but his ability to produce remains an open question.The Dodgers' two-way star acknowledged previously that he won't feel totally healthy until the offseason, for obvious reasons."The best mode of recovery," he said, "is to completely not play."That is no longer an option. At no point during the postseason will Ohtani be 100% healthy."I don't think anyone is going to be at 100% in October," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman countered. "It's a long, grueling season, and everyone's on fumes. Our group, the teams we're playing against, everyone is on fumes. And it's so adrenaline-based that, for me, it's about each guy just drawing from their experience and having calmness in what they do. And I would bet on our talent to shine through."The rotation has been banged up. Can it be dominant?Tyler Glasnow gave up eight runs in 10 innings in two starts on Sept. 5 and 12. Four days later, Blake Snell exited after one inning because of tightness in his groin. Roki Sasaki was on the injured list then, Ohtani had already been ruled out of pitching, and Justin Wrobleski was navigating a rough stretch, no longer resembling the All-Star from the first half. Suddenly there was major concern about the back half of the Dodgers' postseason rotation.That is less so the case now. Glasnow had a much more encouraging start against the Giants on Sept. 18 and looked even sharper in the early portion of his outing against the Padres on Thursday night, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning before running into some trouble. Glasnow recorded only one out in that frame but finished with 11 strikeouts."Overall," he said afterward, "I feel like I'm in a pretty good rhythm right now, so it's the perfect time to be in the postseason."Snell felt that way two weeks ago. Now, perhaps, not so much. The 33-year-old left-hander made one start over the season's first 20 weeks, came back from shoulder and elbow ailments to put up a 1.04 ERA over a six-start stretch, then tweaked his left groin on Sept. 16 and asked out. The Dodgers saw it as a proactive, precautionary move. That Snell threw two bullpen sessions, then agreed to make one final regular-season start Saturday was seen as a good sign. His performance -- four innings, one run, three strikeouts and a shoddy changeup -- wasn't great, but he came out of it healthy..Glasnow and Snell have combined for only 51 regular-season starts over the past two years. Some of that is by design. The Dodgers are prone to giving their starting pitchers extra time to recover from injuries so that they're fresh for the stretch run. Last year, it paid off. Snell and Glasnow joined Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a rotation that absorbed nearly 70% of the Dodgers' postseason innings and put up a 2.55 ERA in the process.Ohtani won't be part of this year's group, but Tarik Skubal, winner of each of the last two American League Cy Young Awards, will be. Yamamoto, meanwhile, looks just as brilliant as he did in 2025. If Glasnow and Snell are right, the Dodgers will again roll out one of the most dominant rotations in baseball history.If not, the equation changes entirely.The back end of the bullpen has been a problem. Can they trust it?After being rocked for five runs in the thin air of Oklahoma City during a rehab appearance on Sept. 13, Edwin Daz reached out to an old friend. His first season in L.A. had been a disaster, mired by elbow surgery and an 11.85 ERA. Now, he couldn't even get minor league hitters out. If not for a massive turnaround, he probably wouldn't even crack the Dodgers' postseason roster.So Daz called Hctor Mercado, a former big leaguer and one of his longtime pitching coaches in Puerto Rico, who suggested a mental cue to help him stay centered with his delivery. He tried it out in a bullpen session on Sept. 15 and felt good. He pitched in a minor league game again the next day and felt even better. Then he rejoined the Dodgers, and with each game, it seemed, Daz got closer to resembling his best self.He faced 17 batters to finish the regular season and struck out nine of them, allowing only two to reach base. But all of those appearances came in low leverage. The Dodgers won't find out how Daz fares in a tight, pressure-filled spot until it matters most."I'm ready to pitch every day," Daz said. "I just want them to keep trusting me and keep giving me the ball to show them I'm ready to pitch in the postseason."The Dodgers don't intend to go into the playoffs with a set closer. At least not unless Daz earns their trust again. Instead, they'll rely on a bevy of arms to hold leads, hoping that enough of them step up so that Roberts has the freedom to utilize Tanner Scott when situations call for it earlier in games. Over these past few weeks, the Dodgers have expressed confidence in the group beyond him.They've pointed to Evan Phillips, who has looked increasingly sharp since his midseason return from Tommy John surgery; Edgardo Henriquez, who the team believes has fully recovered from a back injury; Brock Stewart, who has emerged as a trusted reliever; Alex Vesia, who significantly improved his walk rate this month; and Sasaki, who is in a much better place than he was upon being thrust into the closer's role at this time a year ago.But it's hard to dismiss the fact that the Dodgers spent $69 million over the offseason to ensure the ninth inning was solidified, and it isn't. Roberts was asked last week if he would prefer to have a set closer in October."In a perfect world," he said. "As we all know, the world's not perfect."
