After a long wait to begin the 2025 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to play the San Diego Padres in the first meeting between the two clubs since the 2024 National League Division Series.
The Dodgers, of course, came away victorious in that last matchup, winning in five games to advance to the NL Championship Series and eventually the World Series.
With this week’s series, the Padres will surely want a little revenge, but it also gives them an opportunity to take first place in the NL West. The Dodgers have a lead of one game over them, so either team could exit the series in sole possession of first place.
But even with that, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said his club isn’t putting extra emphasis on playing the Padres, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Outside of it just being a division opponent and us trying to find a way to win a game it really doesn’t have any extra impact,” he said Sunday. “I think right now we’re not playing our best baseball but I think that environment is going to bring out the best in us. It’s a fun place to play a ballgame. But as far as the stakes, right now, I don’t think it has a whole lot.”
The Dodgers and Padres have developed somewhat of a rivalry over recent years, both battling for the NL West title and also in the postseason. The Padres have more often than not taken on the little brother role and find themselves on the losing side of their rivalry, but that has also motivated them more.
Roberts believes the Padres players and fans put more emphasis on the matchups, while the Dodgers just try to do what they always want regardless of the opponent by playing quality baseball:
“Those fans, those players get up for playing us,” he said. “Obviously the geography part of it, the rivalry part of it – but I do think we do a good job of trying not to put too much emphasis on going into that environment other than playing a division rival because at the end of the day it comes down to playing good baseball. But it’s still fun though.”
Overall this season, the Dodgers are 39-27 with a +74 run differential and have gone 15-14 against teams better than .500. The Padres, meanwhile, are 37-27 with a +18 run differential and record of 15-21 against winning teams.
But the Dodgers have been in a bit of a slump recently and have hovered around .500 for quite a while, even going 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Padres have been slightly better recently, going 6-4, but both enter the series at Petco Park coming off a win in their last game.
Dodgers can’t panic amid offensive woes
The Dodgers went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base during their first game against the St. Louis Cardinals. That followed the team going just 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine on base in a 5-0 loss to the Cardinals on Friday night.
The Dodgers’ recent woes have been uncharacteristic as they are the best hitting team with runners in scoring position this season by many metrics. However, Roberts noted that it is common for teams to have dry spells at various points in the regular season and knows they will get back on track.
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