The 2025 MLB division series matchups are starting to take shape after the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to advance out of the wild-card round.
L.A.’s sweep sets up a division series showdown with the philadelphia Phillies starting Saturday in Philadelphia.
What have we learned about each team so far? What does each remaining team need to do to move on to the league championship series? Which players could be October difference-makers? And which favorites should be on upset watch in the round ahead?
ESPN MLB experts Jorge Castillo, Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield are here to break it all down as every division series matchup is set.
Key links: Bracket | Jump to a matchup:
LAD-PHI
NLDS: Los Angeles dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Table of Contents
upset forecast: (Dodgers win more simulations) Why no number in that parenthetical data? we’d have to use too ma
Ohtani’s Pitching and Dodgers’ bullpen Key in NLDS
Game 3 – and now Game 1 of the NLDS. Oh, Ohtani can hit a little, too. Remember, the Dodgers won it all last season with Ohtani having a good-but-not-great postseason at the plate. After his two-homer game in Game 1, watch out.
Why will/won’t it continue against the Phillies?
The Dodgers certainly have to like where they are. Ohtani slowly worked his way up to a normal workload and pitched six innings in his final start, throwing 91 pitches. He allowed just one run over his final four appearances and surrendered just three home runs in 47 innings. Thanks to having three potential off days to play five games in this series, Ohtani could start Game 5 on six days of rest.
After his initial one-inning appearances in June, Ohtani was given at least six days off between starts, and his three starts in September came with eight, 10 and six days of rest, and he will have 10 days before his Game 1 NLDS appearance. The Dodgers will worry about the NLCS if they get there.
Which one player must deliver for L.A. to move on?
This is clearly about players, plural – as in relief pitchers. the Dodgers bullpen didn’t ease the confidence of Dodgers fans – or Dave Roberts – with a poor showing in Game 1 against Cincinnati, when the Dodgers had a 10-2 lead only to see the bullpen start walking everybody and the Reds load the bases and have the tying run on deck. Who Roberts trusts in the highest-leverage situations – and can deliver – remains a question.