The top postseason seed for the National League is suddenly back in play

Just don’t anticipate the Dodgers to begin acting differently.

On Sept. 2, the Los Angeles Dodgers were seven games behind the Atlanta Braves for the National League’s best record and top playoff seed. However, the Dodgers have made strides in recent weeks to close the gap, and as of Wednesday night’s loss to the Detroit Tigers, it now stands at just three and a half games.

The race creates an exciting new narrative for the Dodgers’ regular season finale.

Los Angeles, California – June 23: Dodgers relief pitcher Brusdar Graterol celebrates as his team defeated the Astros 3-2 in the ninth inning on Friday, June 23, 2023, at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles Times photo by Allen J. SchabenDODGERS

It provides a reward for the team to play well for the remaining two weeks.

It won’t alter the club’s strategy for the postseason run, which will continue to prioritize players’ health, workload management, and rest.

As far as the [league championship series] is concerned, having home-field advantage is obviously advantageous, according to manager Dave Roberts.

Nevertheless, he swiftly clarified, “I’m not going to make decisions based on trying to catch the Braves.”

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of rush in the Dodgers clubhouse to secure the No. 1 seed, in fact.

Roberts and his players downplayed the difference between the first and second playoff seeds, which both receive byes straight to the division series, when the Braves visited Los Angeles at the beginning of September. The Braves won three of four games to appear to gain an advantage in the race for the NL’s best record.

“I think us getting to the postseason healthy, that trumps everything,” Roberts remarked at the time.

“I mean, we had [the one-seed] last year, and it obviously didn’t work for us,” third baseman Max Muncy said in agreement. Whether you are the top seed or the last seed in, you must still participate in the game. Making it is the only thing that counts, so that’s really all we’re thinking about.

Little seems to have changed by Wednesday.

While several team members said they’d prefer the No. 1 seed, both to cut down on travel in the NLCS and get a potential Game 7 in the series at home, few cited it as an outward priority over the season’s final stretch.

Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, pictured to the right, celebrates after his team defeated the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, September 16, 2023, in Seattle to clinch the NL West title. In 11 innings, the Dodgers prevailed 6-2.Photo by Maddy Grassy for APSPORTS

“However it kind of washes out, we’ll prepare that way,” Roberts said. “The end of October is still quite some time off. Yet today has arrived. I therefore find it much simpler to focus only on today.

Before the NLCS, the No. 1 seed could also face a potentially tougher matchup in the NLDS, since MLB doesn’t reseed teams for the second round of the playoffs.

Last year, that meant the top-seeded Dodgers faced the fifth-seeded San Diego Padres in the NLDS, while the second-seeded Braves got the sixth-seeded Philadelphia Phillies.

This year, the second seed could get an NLDS matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers, a club that is loaded on pitching but underwhelming at the plate, leading to just 86 wins in a weak National League Central.

Does Roberts care about that aspect at all?

“I don’t think so, because I don’t want to play the ‘be careful what you wish for’ game,” Roberts said. “You look at the Phillies, that’s a very talented team. You saw what they did last year. They can pitch, they can put up a lot of runs quickly. You look at the Brewers, they can really pitch. In any series, they’re very dangerous.

“And the other teams that are in the mix, they are there for a reason,” Roberts added. “So again, I think it’s just easier to, once we know the opponent, prepare and try to beat them.”

Instead of over-exerting themselves to track down Atlanta, which has lost five of six to lose ground in the standings, the Dodgers are sticking to their original plan following last weekend’s division clinch.

They are giving starters extra days off between outings — including six days of rest for Clayton Kershaw before his final two regular-season appearances.

They are being careful with bullpen usage and rotating regulars out of the lineup more often than usual.

Granted, the team still wants to play well going into October. They’re wary of stumbling into the same post-division-clinch slump that doomed them last year.

But even if the one-seed is within their reach, they aren’t going out of their way to try to grab it. Just because the Braves left the door open, it doesn’t mean the Dodgers are now trying to bust it down.