Who will be in the Dodgers dugout: Arizona or Milwaukee?

The Dodgers’ postseason campaign doesn’t start until Saturday, marking the end of the regular season. When we really face off against someone, we’ll compare how they perform. (Of course, the Dodgers ought to win against Arizona or Milwaukee, but then again, they ought to have won against every team in the previous season.) Let’s look at some regular-season statistics in the interim.

Result against Arizona: 8–5.

Milwaukee versus: 5-1

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NL leaders in batting

68 batters met the requirements to be rate leaders (batting average, on base percentage, etc.). You need to have at least 502 plate appearances in order to be eligible. Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, James Outman, and Max Muncy were the only five Dodgers with at least 502 runs.

Averaging Batting

1. Miami’s Luis Arraez,.354

2. Atlanta, Ronald Acuña Jr.,.337

3..331 for Freddie Freeman

4. Chicago’s Cody Bellinger,.307

5. Mookie Betts,.307, Dodgers

38. Smith Will,.261

53. Outman James,.248

Max Muncy, 66,.212

68. Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber,.197

Also noteworthy are Schwarber’s 104 RBIs and 47 home runs. And he failed 215 times at bat.

On-base proportion

1. Atlanta, Ronald Acuña Jr.,.416

2. San Diego’s Juan Soto,.410

3..410 for Freddie Freeman

4..408 Mookie Betts

5. The.401 Bryce Harper

16..359 Will Smith

James Outman (21),.353

Max Muncy, 34,.333

Colorado, Ezequiel Tovar, 68,.287

Slugging proportion

1. Atlanta’s Matt Olson,.604

2. Atlanta, Ronald Acuña Jr.,.596

3..579 for Mookie Betts

4..567 for Freddie Freeman

5. Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna,.558

Max Muncy (19),.475

41. Smith Will,.438

James Outman, 43,.437

68. San Diego’s Trent Grisham,.352

You can see why it is incorrect to evaluate Muncy just based on his batting average when you consider the three categories mentioned above.

FIGHTING

1. Betts Mookie, 8.4

2. Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., 8.4

3. Atlanta’s Matt Olson, 7.2

4. 6.7 Freddie Freeman

5. New York, Francisco Lindor, 6.1

21. 4.0 Will Smith

James Outman, 36, 3.3

45. Muncy Max, 2.9

Hurts

1. Atlanta, Ronald Acuña Jr., 149

2. 131 Freddie Freeman

3. Atlanta’s Matt Olson, 127

4. With 126 Mookie Betts

5. Atlanta’s Austin Riley, 117

Slugs

1. Atlanta, 217; Ronald Acuña Jr.

2. Freddie Freeman, 211

3. Luis Arraez, Miami, 203

4. 179 Mookie Betts

4. Austin Riley, Atlanta, 179

Doubles

1. Freddie Freeman, 59

2. Mookie Betts, 40

3. Jeimer Candelario, Chi/Wash, 39

4. William Contreras, Milwaukee, 38

Home runs

1. Matt Olson, Atlanta, 54

2. Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia, 47

3. Pete Alonso, New York, 46

4. Ronald Acuña Jr.. Atlanta, 41

5. Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta, 40

6. Mookie Betts, 39

RBIs

1. Matt Olson, Atlanta, 139

2. Pete Alonso, New York, 118

3. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta, 109

3. Juan Soto, San Diego, 109

5. Mookie Betts, 107

Walks

1. Juan Soto, San Diego, 132

2. Kyle Schwarber, Philiadelphia, 126

3. Matt Olson, Atlanta, 104

4. Ian Happ, Chicago, 99

5. Mookie Betts, 96

7. Max Muncy, 85

To qualify for pitching rate leaders (such as ERA), you had to pitch at least 162 innings. No Dodger reached that mark. Only 20 pitchers in the NL pitched that many. In 2003, 49 NL pitchers threw at least 162 innings.

We’ll look at pitching and more individual Dodger stats as the week progresses.

Poll results

We asked, “Which team do you want the Dodgers to face in the NLDS?” After 15,670 responses, the results:

Arizona, 23.3%

Chicago, 22.9%

Miami, 17.6%

Milwaukee, 15.2%

Cincinnati, 11.8%

San Diego, 9.2%

Now that it has been narrowed down to two teams, what do you wish for now, Arizona or Milwaukee. Vote in our new poll here.

The postseasson roster

Some of the final roster decisions will be made based on who the opponent will be. But let’s hazard a guess as to the roster for the NLDS.

Position players

Austin Barnes

Mookie Betts

Freddie Freeman

Kiké Hernández

Jason Heyward

J.D. Martinez

Max Muncy

James Outman

David Peralta

Miguel Rojas

Amed Rosario

Will Smith

Chris Taylor

There has been speculation that the team might go with Kolten Wong over Rosario. Anything is possible, but I’m just not seeing it. Which means it will probably happen. Also, Rojas was hit on the left hand by a pitch in the game against the Giants on Friday night. He hasn’t played since, but X-rays were negative. It’s something to keep an eye on. Rojas said Saturday, “It feels OK. I got a round of treatment. Right now, I know it’s going to hurt. I got hit there before, and it’s probably going to take a little bit for it to start feeling better. But I’m glad with these couple games and then we have a couple days before we play our first playoff game. I’m pretty positive I’m going to be able to play.”

Taylor was hit in the right knee by a pitch Sunday and came out a little while later, but he’s apparently OK. Dave Roberts: “Chris is good. It was a slider that got him on the outside of the knee. It was one of, to what end [do we] keep running him out there? So got David [Peralta] in there, Kolten in there. He’ll be fine.”

Pitchers

Ryan Brasier

Caleb Ferguson

Brusdar Graterol

Joe Kelly

Clayton Kershaw

Lance Lynn

Bobby Miller

Shelby Miller

Ryan Pepiot

Evan Phillips

Emmet Sheehan

Alex Vesia

Ryan Yarbrough

There has also been speculation that Ferguson could be left off the roster because he has struggled lately. But one of those was a start, and he has been terrible as a starter this year. And one was in Colorado. If you discount those two appearances, then in 10 games this month, he has pitched 9.1 innings, giving up six hits and one walk while striking out 14. If he doesn’t get the spot, it probably goes to Victor González or Michael Grove.

Kershaw starts Game 1

In a surprise to few, Roberts said that Clayton Kershaw will start Game 1 of the NLDS.

Kershaw has some sort of shoulder injury that has reduced his velocity, but he has still been the Dodgers’ best starting pitcher. “It’s pretty academic,” Roberts said. “… It seems like pretty much a no-brainer.”

The Dodgers are looking to get five innings, or about 80 pitches, from Kershaw.

Anything you want to know?

We have four more days to kill until the NLDS begins, so I’m throwing open the reader mailbag? Any questions you want answered? Email me at [email protected] and I’ll put together a Q&A before Saturday. And the top 25 Dodgers of all time countdown continues Tuesday.

NLDS schedule

Game 1: at Dodgers, Saturday

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. Start times have not been announced, but if the TBS website is to believed, it looks like the games will start at either 5:30 p.m. or 5.

The wild-card schedule

If you want to keep track of all the wild-card series, here’s how. They are best-of-three, with the higher seed hosting every game:

Arizona at Milwaukee (winner plays Dodgers)

Game 1: Tuesday, 4 p.m., ESPN2

Game 2: Wednesday, 4 p.m., ESPN2

*Game 3: Thursday, 4 p.m., ESPN2

Miami at Philadelphia (winner plays Atlanta)

Game 1: Tuesday, 5 p.m., ESPN

Game 2: Wednesday, 5 p.m., ESPN

*Game 3: Thursday, 5 p.m., ESPN

Texas at Tampa Bay (winner plays Houston)

Game 1: Tuesday, Noon, ABC

Game 2: Wednesday, Noon, ABC

*Game 3: Thursday, Noon, ABC

Toronto at Minnesota (winner plays Baltimore)

Game 1: Tuesday, 1:30 p.m., ESPN

Game 2: Wednesday, 1:30 p.m., ESPN

*Game 3: Thursday, 1 :30 p.m., ESPN

*-if necessary

All times Pacific

World Series odds

By sportsbetting.ag

Atlanta, 3-1

Dodgers, 9-2

Houston, 5-1

Baltimore, 6-1

Tampa Bay, 10-1

Philadelphia, 12-1

Texas, 12-1

Toronto, 16-1

Milwaukee, 20-1

Minnesota, 20-1

Arizona, 33-1

Miami, 33-1

When the postseason began last year, the Dodgers were 2-1 favorites to win it according to most sites.

A different bracket

Two years ago, this newsletter mentioned Makenna Martin, a then-college student who was holding an online bracket (much like the NCAA bracket) where people could fill out their choices for the best-looking Dodger. She added a charitable aspect to it, raising money for a charity for women who are the victim of domenstic violence.

Martin, now a college graduate, has continued the bracket, and this year is using it to raise money for “Peace Over Violence,” another charity that helps victims of domestic abuse. You do not have to donate to take part in the bracket challenge. Some people affiliated with the Dodgers, including announcer Stephen Nelson, have donated and filled out a bracket. So far, $5,500 of a goal of $8,000 has been raised. Whether you donate or not, it’s a lot of fun to do. A tip of the cap to Martin and to all young people who try to make the world just a little bit better.

You can go here to take part

And finally

A closer look at the Dodgers’ 2023 NL West division title celebration