The Los Angeles Dodgers are back in the NLCS. This is now the third year that Los Angeles has made it to the penultimate series before the World Series. This time, LA defeated the Atlanta Braves to make it to the Championship Series. After dismantling the Braves in four games, LA now awaits the winner of the Milwaukee Brewers-San Diego Padres series.
No matter who the Dodgers face, they'll be in for an uphill battle. With that in mind, LA is pulling out the big guns to start the Championship Series. They will be starting their two aces, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal, in Games 1 and 2. After their series win, Freddie Freeman talked about what they, the hitters, can do to help out their starters.
“I mean, you see the smile go on my face when you say those names,” Freeman told the reporter, per FOX Sports: MLB on X. “We got a great pitching staff; our starting staff is amazing. We've got Tanner and Edwin throwing the ball like they are at their best. Coming in, Henriquez is healthy and throwing like he is. We got a really good pitching staff. So we just need to score enough runs for him, and we were able to do it this series.”
As it stands, the Dodgers are likely to face the Brewers in the NLCS. The Brewers have always boasted one of the best pitching staffs in the league, and that's still the case this year. With Jacob Misiorowski spearheading the charge, Milwaukee's starting rotation is one of the strongest in the league. Los Angeles was able to punish the Braves' starters (even getting three runs off Chirs Sale in Game 3), and they'll need to do the same against the Brewers in their potential matchup.
Article Continues BelowThe Padres are an easier matchup for the Dodgers, mostly due to LA's superior record against their division rivals (8-5 this season). That being said, the Padres did win the last series against the Dodgers before the end of the regular season. In any case, Los Angeles will need to dig deep to get back to the World Series.