We can’t really say for certain that the series that begins tonight in Los Angeles is a playoff preview since the seedings and brackets are not set in stone. Yet we do know the Phillies will be there and that the Dodgers are likely right behind them in punching their own ticket. So, it’s possible that seeing each other will be in the future of these two team’s seasons.
That’s what makes this matchup so interesting. The rotation for the Phillies has been set so that their top three arms are ready to go
while, on the flip side, the Dodgers get to see how their offense will fare. It’s those matchups with the game that make baseball so much fun to watch.
So, which is the most intriguing part? For me, the biggest thing I’m looking for is not how Matt Strahm fares against Shohei Ohtani. This is probably going to be something to revisit if the two teams meet again, but Strahm has shown a bit of success against the MVP candidate. Instead, I’d be looking more at how someone like Tanner Banks were to fare against the Ohtani-Mookie Betts-Freddie Freeman pocket of batters. Two of them are left handed, so there is a chance he sees them at some point. Whether Rob Thomson wants to show him against those hitters is another matter.
