Why Winning The Division Isn’t Something The Dodgers Are Eyeing This Season

Photo Credit:Raymond Gorospe/MLB.com

On Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers clinched a postseason berth with a 7-to-5 win over the San Diego Padres. Many fans might think that’s not enough for them to get excited. They want that eighth consecutive NL West crown, but with the new playoff format, where eight teams in each league make the postseason, that doesn’t really matter.

While there are no guaranteed outcomes in the playoffs to begin with, there will be less certainty with a three-game Wild Card series format in the first round. So even though the Padres are just 3.5 games back of the Dodgers with 10 games to play, the new format offers no incentive for the Dodgers to try and win the division. The only thing at stake right now is where the Dodgers will be seeded.

The Dodgers (35-15) have the best record in the National League and if the season ended today they would face the 8th-seeded San Francisco Giants (24-24). The top three seeds (1-3) will go to the three division winners and ranked in order of record. The second place teams in each division will be ranked 4-6 in order of record and seeds 7-8 will be the next best records after that (regardless of division). If the Padres (32-19) somehow overtake the Dodgers, then Los Angeles could potentially be the 4-seed and face whichever team is the 5-seed.

Even though home field will be awarded to the higher-seeded team for all three games in the Wild Card round, it will not translate to having home field advantage throughout the rest of the playoffs. If the Dodgers make it through to the best-of-five NLDS, they will either play their games at Minute Maid Park in Houston or Globe Life Field in Arlington. The ALDS games will be played at Petco Park in San Diego and Dodger Stadium. The best-of-seven NLCS games will take place at Globe Life Field and the ALCS will be at Petco Park. Globe Life Field will also be hosting the World Series.

So beyond the Wild Card round, with no fans in the stands, there’s no real incentive to secure home field advantage other than having the familiarity of Dodger Stadium for the first round. It seems, in terms of winning the Division, the Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts aren’t putting a lot of stock into it.

“I don’t think it does (reward a division title),” Roberts told Bill Plunkett, of the OC Register.  “It certainly doesn’t incentivize a team outside of outside of you still want to win the division. That’s still a goal. But as far as the benefit , it’s nonexistent.”

In any other season, the three-game series the Dodgers just took from the Padres would have huge playoff implications. This year, however, it was merely a series of bragging rights. As it stands, the Dodgers are the ones who have the right to brag.

Given everything we’ve already discussed, Roberts has the breathing room and flexibility to try different things to see what type of talent the Dodgers have in case of emergencies. For example, we’ve seen MVP-candidate (and regular right fielder) Mookie Betts start at second base. We’ve also seen Roberts schedule bullpen games to possibly test how his relievers respond when a starter has to be pulled early in a game in the postseason.

The Dodgers can now take full advantage of already clinching a postseason spot, by going matchup-by-matchup and see what types of players can be used in key situations. That may mean having a certain starter go on a particular day because his numbers fare better, or going to a certain bullpen piece because he’s the hotter option. With only 10 games left to go in the Dodgers’ schedule, look for Roberts to continue to shuffle the deck by putting in players in certain scenarios they may not be used to.

Jacob Cisneros is a writer for Dodgers-LowDown. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram @_JacobCisneros. 

Edited by Jake Reiner. He is a writer and reporter for Dodgers-LowDown and co-host of The Incline Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @QualityJakes

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