Dodgers Dugout: Who will they play? Looking at the NL wild-card tiebreakers

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell and the wait for the NLDS seems interminable.

There are only three games left in the regular season for the Dodgers and the main thing is for everyone to stay healthy and sharp.

But there are some other things to look for this weekend. Here are a few of them.

Who are they going to play in the NLDS?

The Dodgers will be the No. 2-seeded NL team, which means they will play host to either the No. 3-seeded Milwaukee Brewers or the No. 6 seed, who we don’t know yet. Let’s take a look at the wild-card standings. The top three teams make it, but at the moment, we need to focus on the team that finishes third.

Philadelphia, 89-70
Arizona, 84-75
Miami, 82-76

Chicago, 82-77, 0.5 GB
Cincinnati, 81-78, 1.5 GB
San Diego, 79-80, 3.5 GB

Note that when this newsletter was written late Thursday, Miami was leading New York 2-1 in the ninth inning when the game was suspended by rain.

The Phillies have clinched a wild-card spot and the No. 4 seed. Arizona is in the driver’s seat for the No. 5 seed. That leaves Miami, Chicago, Cincinnati and San Diego.

To get the final spot, the Padres have to win their final three games while Chicago and Miami lose every game. The first tiebreaker in the wild-card race is head-to-head record. The Padres went 3-4 against Chicago, 3-3 against Cincinnati and 4-2 against Miami. The second tiebreaker is record in your own division. Cincinnati is 20-27 against the Central, San Diego 27-25 against the West.

Miami has the tiebreaker edge over Chicago. Cincinnati has the tiebreaker edge over the Cubs. Wait, let’s simplify this.

Here are the tiebreaker edges if two teams tie for a wild-card spot:

Arizona
Tiebreaker edge over:
Chicago
San Diego

loses tiebreaker to:
Cincinnati
Miami

Chicago
Tiebreaker edge over:
San Diego

loses tiebreaker to:
Arizona
Cincinnati
Miami

Cincinnati
Tiebreaker edge over:

Arizona
Chicago

loses tiebreaker to:
Miami
San Diego

Miami
Tiebreaker edge over:

Arizona
Chicago
Cincinnati

loses tiebreaker to:
San Diego

San Diego
Tiebreaker edge over:
Cincinnati
Miami

loses tiebreaker to:
Arizona
Chicago

If more than two teams tie for a wild-card spot, this is how they settle it, directly from mlb.com:

“If the three clubs DO NOT all have identical records against one another and Team X has a better record against Teams Y and Z, then Team X is the qualifier. If Team X and Y have identical records against one another and each has a better record against Team Z, then Teams X and Y follow the two-club tiebreaker rules to determine the qualifier. Otherwise, the three clubs are ranked by their overall winning percentage against one another, and the club with the highest overall winning percentage is the qualifier. If two of the clubs have identical winning percentages in this scenario, then they would follow the two-club tiebreaker procedure.

“If the three clubs DO have identical records against one another, then the team with the best intradivision record is the qualifier.”

And now I have a headache.

Poll

Which team do you want the Dodgers to face in the NLDS? Vote here and let us know.

NLDS schedule

Game 1: at Dodgers, Saturday, Oct. 7
Game 2: at Dodgers, Monday, Oct. 9
Game 3: at opponent, Wednesday, Oct. 11
Game 4: at opponent, Thursday, Oct. 12
Game 5: at Dodgers, Saturday, Oct. 14

All games will be on TBS

100-RBI club

The Dodgers have four players with 100 RBI’s: Mookie Betts (106), Max Muncy (105), Freddie Freeman (101) and J.D. Martinez (100), who joined the club Thursday night with a two-run homer in the first inning. That makes the 2023 Dodgers the first team in franchise history to have four players with at least 100 RBI’s. A look:

Four players
2023: Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, J.D. Martinez

Three players
1930: Del Bissonette, Babe Herman, Glenn Wright
1949: Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson
1950: Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider
1951: Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider
1953: Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider
1955: Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider

100-win club

The Dodgers need two wins to have at least 100 for the fourth full season in a row. A look at all of the previous 100-win Dodgers teams and how they fared:

111-51: 2022 Dodgers, lost in NLDS
106-56: 2021 Dodgers, lost in NLCS
106-56: 2019 Dodgers, lost in NLDS
105-49: 1953 Dodgers, lost in World Series
104-58: 2017 Dodgers, lost in World Series*
104-50: 1942 Dodgers, did not make postseason
102-60: 1974 Dodgers, lost in World Series
102-63: 1962 Dodgers, did not make postseason
101-47: 1899 Superbas, no postseason
100-54: 1941 Dodgers, lost in World Series

*-Astros cheated.

No 100-win Dodgers team has won the World Series. The 1963 Dodgers won 99 games and swept the Yankees in the World Series. Maybe the current team should stop at 99?

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (TBD) at San Francisco (Keaton Winn, 1-2, 3.89 ERA), 7:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (TBD) at San Francisco (Tristan Beck, 3-3, 4.05 ERA), 6:05 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (TBD) at San Francisco (*Kyle Harrison, 1-1, 4.85 ERA), 12:05 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Mookie Betts gets final chance to catch Ronald Acuña Jr. in MVP race

Who replaced Julio Urías on Dodger Stadium mural? The players who caught him

MLB awards races: Will Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts again be overlooked?

And finally

Vin Scully gives an emotional final signoff. Watch and listen here.