The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series in 2024 with a first-round bye, and won it last year as the Nol. 3 seed, having to play in a Wild Card Series.
They've shown they can win both ways, but a bye this year is a little more important. The Dodgers stars are only getting older, and with age comes wear and tear. The team has been pretty banged up, and it's no secret that they want the extra rest.
"I think we all know why it's important,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said, per Sporting Tribune's Fredo Cervantes. “There's a lot of us kind of limping toward the end here. A lot of aches and pains this year.”
Freeman is not kidding when he talks about the Dodgers "limping" to the finish line, even though he said it while chuckling. Shohei Ohtani is currently on the injured list, Freeman is playing through some knee issues, Andy Pages just got back in the lineup after a fractured hand and Blake Snell exited his last start after just one inning.
Not to mention the normal wear and tear a 162-game season takes on players. The Dodgers have the oldest lineup in baseball, and they could use a bye more than anyone. Not getting the bye would mean a date with either San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia or Arizona in a best-of-three series.
Any of those matchups would be much tougher than the matchup the Dodgers had against the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card last year. Any one of those teams could upset the Dodgers in a Wild Card Series. However, it's hard to imagine a team coming out of a tough Wild Card Series and beating a rested Dodgers squad with its pitching lined up.