The Dodgers’ next test is officially locked in, and it comes with a familiar name on the other side: the Atlanta Braves.
Los Angeles will open the 2026 National League Division Series against Atlanta on Saturday, setting up a rematch of the 2021 NL Championship Series. The Braves won that matchup in six games, and they earned another shot at the Dodgers by eliminating the Philadelphia Phillies in three games in the wild-card round.
These two clubs have spent the last half-decade as NL heavyweights, but they somehow haven’t crossed paths in the postseason over the last four years. Even so, the regular-season meetings gave plenty of recent evidence of how these teams match up. The Dodgers went 1-5 against the Braves this year, getting swept in Atlanta and dropping two of three at Dodger Stadium.
That history doesn’t seem to worry Max Muncy. Asked Tuesday on a Zoom call about the Dodgers’ struggles against top teams this season, the third baseman brushed off the idea that regular-season results mean much once October arrives.
“How many years have we seen it? In ’22, we beat the Padres something like 16 times in the regular season and then they beat us in the postseason.
It just doesn’t matter." Muncy said Tuesday on a Zoom call with reporters.
“You see it every single year where there’s a team that really struggled against another team and then they go out there and kind of just take it to them in the postseason. I know there are things you look at on paper where you say this is a good matchup, but in October it really doesn’t matter.”
The Dodgers have already seen that script play out. Last year, they were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-0, in the regular season. Then they turned around and swept Milwaukee, 4-0, in the NLCS.
Los Angeles has not yet announced its starting pitchers for the series, but the opening stretch is expected to take shape around the Braves’ recent pitching usage. Chris Sale, Atlanta’s top arm, threw 6.1 innings in Game 1 on Tuesday and then got the final four outs of Game 3 on Thursday, so his availability is still uncertain. Tyler Mahle, who pitched on Wednesday, looks like the most likely option for Game 3 unless Atlanta uses him on short rest in Game 2 on Sunday.
That leaves the Braves with some real decisions to make for Game 1, and possibly Game 2 as well.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, are expecting a healthier version of Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman after the five-day layoff. They also appear poised to get right-hander Edgardo Henriquez back after he missed the final few weeks of the regular season with a back injury.
Atlanta’s return possibilities look much thinner. Lane Thomas is the only player who appears to have a shot at coming back for the NLDS after being sidelined since Sept. 7 with a left intercostal strain. Right-hander Bryce Elder, who is recovering from knee surgery, is not expected back before the NLCS.
In Other News...
Braves Fans Had To Love How Fast This Phillies Jinx Backfired
The broadcast booth did Atlanta a favor in Game 3 of the National League wild-card series, even if not by design. Joey Votto, in his first season as an in-game analyst after a long run as a player, suggested the Braves would not score again, only for Atlanta to answer with two runs later in the inning and turn the prediction into instant bulletin-board material.
For Braves fans, it was the kind of jinx that aged badly almost immediately and made for a small but satisfying subplot in a tense postseason game. Vottos stint in the role is limited to the wild-card round, since NBC does not have rights beyond that stage, so the misfire came in a brief audition that the Braves and their supporters will remember for the wrong reason. [Read more 🡒]
Braves May Have Created A Huge Chris Sale Problem Before Dodgers Series
Chris Sale gave the Braves exactly the kind of punch they needed in Game 3, even if it came in an unusual spot. After being lined up to start Game 2 and having already thrown 95 pitches two days earlier, Sale volunteered to come out of the bullpen and delivered 1 sharp innings in relief, striking out Bryce Harper and Otto Lopez as Atlanta grabbed the postseason win over the Phillies.
The immediate reward was obvious, but the longer-term cost is now part of the conversation as the Division Series shifts to the Dodgers. Walt Weiss said Sale stepped up when the Braves needed him, and that kind of flexibility matters in October, yet it also raises a real question about what he has left if Atlanta needs him again soon in a much bigger series. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Catch A Huge NLDS Break As Braves Rotation Thins
The Braves pitching plan took a hit before the National League Division Series even got underway, with Martn Prez landing on the 15-day injured list because of lower back inflammation. Manager Walt Weiss said Prez will not be available against the Dodgers, though there is still a chance he could return if Atlanta keeps moving into the NLCS. For a rotation already needing to cover a lot of ground in October, losing a veteran arm at this stage changes the shape of the series.
Atlanta will have to piece together innings with other options, including AJ Smith-Shawver and JR Ritchie, and that puts even more pressure on a staff trying to navigate one of the postseasons toughest lineups. The Dodgers were already a demanding matchup, and now the Braves have to find a way through it without one of the pitchers they were counting on to help steady the middle of games. [Read more 🡒]