The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost six straight games entering play on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves are on a seven-game winning streak and have passed the Dodgers in the National League standings. The Dodgers now have the third-best record in baseball, but the question is if it even matters.
Last season, the Dodgers had the No. 3 seed in the NL and still managed to win the World Series. In fact, they lost just one game en route to the Fall Classic. The Dodgers' losing streak will not last forever, and the team is too talented not to get back on track.
However, whether they have the bye or not will not determine whether they win the World Series. The only thing that will stand in the way of the Dodgers and a three-peat is seemingly injuries. They will likely have a postseason rotation that features Blake Snell, Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani or Tyler Glasnow.
Offensively, they should have Will Smith back and have three MVP Award winners in the lineup. As the No. 3 seed, the Dodgers would play the No. 6 seed in the Wild Card Round. If the season ended today, that team would be the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies were the only team that handed the Dodgers a loss on their way to the World Series last year. The Dodgers would surely like to avoid playing them in the first round, but even if they had two, they stack up nicely against them. Both teams have elite pitching, but the Dodgers' lineup does not have a real hole. The Phillies do have some question marks at catcher and in the outfield.