The Los Angeles Dodgers have been outstanding once again this season, sitting atop the National League West standings and holding the best record in baseball.
They have legitimate competition in the NL West for the first time in a while, as the San Diego Padres went on a tear. It set the stage for an intriguing three-game matchup between the Dodgers and Padres at Petco Park this week.
It represented the final regular-season meetings between these two clubs and potentially served as a postseason preview. If current standings hold and L.A. and San Diego advance, they would meet in the NL Division Series.
One person who is familiar with both organizations is Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, having previously played and coached for the Padres.
He recently said that when he played for the San Diego, Petco Park felt like home games for the Dodgers, although Roberts believes it would be different this year if fans were permitted to be in attendance, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“Even when I played for the Padres,” Roberts said, “when the Dodgers came to town, it felt like a home game for the Dodgers. I do feel like this year would have been different.”
Obviously fans weren’t be in Petco Park this season due to restrictions in place to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. If they were, this week’s series arguably would have been the most highly-anticipated of the season.
While there is no doubt that there is a lot of buzz surrounding the Padres right now and their fans are rightfully excited, it is also fair to assume that plenty of Dodger fans would have made it down south for the series as well.
The Dodgers dropped the series opener but responded with back-to-back wins. L.A. finished with six wins in 10 meetings with the Padres this year. A hotel located in the Gaslamp Quarter hosted some fans for an outdoor viewing when the Dodgers’ last visited Petco Park.
Friedman welcomes postseason matchup with Padres
Despite the Padres having the second-best record in the NL, they would still go into the postseason as the No. 4 seed as division winners occupy the top three.
When discussing the Padres’ recent moves, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said he would welcome an NLDS matchup.
“We knew and expected that A.J. would be aggressive. Look forward to playing them in September, and who knows, maybe October as well,” Friedman said.
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