The Dodgers are back in the postseason, having clinched their 13th consecutive playoff berth on Saturday, tied for the second-longest streak in major league history. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out who they play, a group that has winnowed down to a few choices.
NL West standings
Dodgers 88-68 (.564) – – –
Padres 85-71 (.545) 3 GB
The Dodgers’ are closing in on a fourth straight division title, with a magic number of only three to win the NL West.
National League seeding
The Brewers, Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers have all clinched postseason
berths. The Phillies own the tiebreaker over the Dodgers and have a magic number of only two to lock Los Angeles out of the No. 2 seed, which would mean the Dodgers would have to begin their postseason in the wild card round, even if they win their division.
- Brewers 95-61 (.609)
- Phillies 92-64 (.590)
- Dodgers 88-68 (.564)
- Cubs 88-68 (.564)
- Padres 85-71 (.545)
- Reds 80-76 (513)
- Mets 80-76 (.513)
- Diamondbacks 79-77 (.506)
By far the most likely scenario for the Dodgers is the No. 3 seed as the NL West winner, which would mean hosting the No. 6 seed at Dodger Stadium in a best-of-3 series from September 30 to potentially October 2. But that fight for the final wild card spot is seemingly wide open at the moment, with one games separating three teams for that final spot.
The Reds and Mets are now tied for the No. 6 seed, with Cincinnati holding the two-team tiebreaker over New York by virtue of beating the Mets four out of their six matchups this season. The Diamondbacks are right there with them, just one game out of the final playoff berth.
Should the Reds, Mets, and D-backs end in a three-team tie, the Reds would win the tiebreaker by going 8-4 against the other two teams, with New York and Arizona each at 5-7 in those games.
For what it’s worth, the Mets the best shot to make the postseason from this group at both Baseball Prospectus (53.3 percent) and FanGraphs (51.5 percent). The Reds have a 418-percent chance to make the playoffs at FanGraphs and 37.5-percent at BP. The D-backs are at 6.2 and 6.6 percent, respectively.
Up next: Dodgers at D-backs, Brewers at Padres, Phillies vs. Marlins, Cubs vs. Mets, Reds vs. Pirates
