Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts isn’t embracing the hype surrounding the National League Division Series rematch with the San Diego Padres.
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The two NL West teams have not met since their showdown in early October last season. All eyes were fixed on the rivalry matchup as a dynamic Padres lineup faced a Dodgers team that was coming off back-to-back first-round exits.
Would the Padres take down the star-studded Dodgers? Or would L.A. exorcise its postseason demons once and for all?
The NLDS certainly lived up to expectations as the Padres pushed the Dodgers to the brink of elimination in Game 5.
However, an injury-riddled Dodgers pitching staff managed to shutout the Padres for 24 consecutive scoreless innings to close out the playoff series — the longest postseason drought in over three decades.
Even after the Dodgers had won the World Series, several L.A. players reiterated the importance of the NLDS matchup in their journey through October. To most, the rivalry matchup with the Padres was the pinnacle of the postseason.
Nearly three months into the year, the Dodgers are set to face the Friars for the first time in the 2025 campaign. Heading into Monday night’s series opener, the Padres are just one game behind the defending champions in the NL West.
The Dodgers and Padres play seven times in the next 11 days, and the results will surely have an impact on which team will command the division.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers skipper seemed to overlook the importance of the team’s upcoming series.
“Outside of it just being a division opponent and us trying to find a way to win a game, it really doesn’t have any extra impact,” Roberts said Sunday. “I think right now we’re not playing our best baseball, but I think that environment is going to bring out the best in us. It’s a fun place to play a ballgame. But as far as the stakes, right now, I don’t think it has a whole lot.”
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman stressed the importance of winning the division when he commented on the Dodgers’ decision to cut two of their longest-tenured players, Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor.
It’s abundantly clear that the Dodgers are focused on winning the division in order to put themselves in the best position for the postseason.
However, Roberts only highlighted how eager the Padres and their fanbase are to welcome the defending champions at Petco Park Monday.
“Those fans, those players get up for playing us,” he said. “Obviously the geography part of it, the rivalry part of it – but I do think we do a good job of trying not to put too much emphasis on going into that environment other than playing a division rival, because at the end of the day it comes down to playing good baseball. But it’s still fun, though.”
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