While the Los Angels Dodgers have been one of the best teams in baseball over the past 12 seasons, the rest of their National League West opponents have often lagged behind.
There of course have been some exceptions, with the San Francisco Giants finishing one game ahead of the Dodgers to win the division in 2021. And the Colorado Rockies forced a Game 163 to decide the NL West in 2018. But those have been the closest division races for the Dodgers since they reached their highest levels of dominance from 2017 onward.
The NL West has been a relatively weak division in general over these past 12 seasons, with only five instances of three teams being at or above .500 in a single season during that span. Whenever there has been competition, it primarily was in the form of a two-horse race.
Which made the 2024 season so unique, as the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks both enjoying successful years and keeping things interesting down the stretch. It nearly resulted in the NL West sending three representatives to the postseason for the first time since 2017, if not for the Diamondbacks narrowly missing out due to tiebreakers.
While it is still early, the division figures to be even more cutthroat this season as the Giants have had a resurgence of their own. Manager Dave Roberts had high praise for the Dodgers’ opponents and expects a fierce battle for the NL West title in 2025, according to Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
“I think we’re the best division in baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t think anyone is gonna run away with it.”
Roberts added he does not believe pressure from a competitive division will have a significant effect on the Dodgers’ odds in the postseason:
Ahead of this week’s series, Roberts downplayed concerns that the division race could exhaust his team like it did four years ago, when the Dodgers and Giants went down to the last day.
“You don’t win the World Series, or the division, in May,” Roberts said. “I think it’s still just kind of making sure we stay the course and protect guys and play good baseball. So that’s what is more front of mind for me.”
For now, the days of the Dodgers winning the NL West by extraordinarily wide margins and beating up on the rest of division will be significantly more difficult compared to years past.
It is true that the Dodgers do not seem to be overly concerned by the early threat that the Padres, Giants and Diamondbacks pose.
They have had plenty of opportunities to make rash decisions so far this season, like with Shohei Ohtani’s rehab and Blake Snell’s injury. They could have rushed Ohtani back to the mound or allowed Snell to pitch through his left shoulder inflammation, but proactively chose not to do so.
Being challenged in the division doesn’t necessarily spell doom for the Dodgers either, as they did manage to reach the World Series in 2018 when the division title needed an extra day of the regular season.
L.A. also was pushed last year by the Padres before going on to win the World Series.
Dodgers’ dominance in NL West since 2013
Not only have the Dodgers captured the NL West title 11 times in the past 12 seasons, but it has also been by a wide margin more often than not. From 2017-2024, the Dodgers led the NL West by a minimum of 10 games four times, including twice by more than 20. In that same timeframe, the Dodgers posted a 333-192 record against division opponents.
Teoscar Hernández is only in his second season with the Dodgers, but he is enjoying the pressure from other teams in the division.
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