The Los Angeles Dodgers are 47 games above .500, have a 15.5 game lead in the NL West and are on pace to win 115 games this season. They also sport a league-best +202 run differential.
Needless to say, the Dodgers are on fire and in great position to secure the No. 1 spot in the NL PLayoffs. And if you were to ask right fielder Yasiel Puig, he’d tell you it really doesn’t matter who they square off with in October.
“We’re in first place so we don’t really care who we play,” Puig told the Orange County Register on Wednesday. “If it’s the Diamondbacks, that’s fine or if it’s Colorado even better.
“I just know throughout the season, the Diamondbacks seem to play us better. But it doesn’t matter.”
As dominant as the Dodgers have been, both the Diamondbacks and Rockies have played them well this season. Each NL West rival is 5-7 against Los Angeles, but Arizona has outscored them 53-50 in head-to-head matchups this season. They’ve also beaten the Dodgers in three out of five at Chase Field, outscoring them 34-22 in two series.
“They’re tough,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “They can pitch. They grind at-bats. They run the bases. They catch the ball. It’s fun to play those guys. We’re familiar. They’re familiar when you play each other 18 games. Each one of those [one-run] games could have gone either way.”
Ultimately, the Dodgers would like to remain grounded and focus on one game at a time, but given that they’re on such a torrid streak, it’s hard not to look ahead.
