The Dodgers have locked up October at Dodger Stadium.
With their postseason berth secured for a 14th straight year - tying an MLB record - Los Angeles now knows its playoff path starts with the National League Division Series and home-field advantage in hand. Entering Thursday, the only thing left to settle was the first-round bye, and the Dodgers needed just one more win of their own or one loss by the Atlanta Braves to make it official.
That’s the kind of cushion Dave Roberts has been talking about. “It’s always helpful in the sense of giving your guys a break to reset.
But given all the tax and where our guys are health-wise, to get that week would be huge,” Roberts recently said. “We’ve still got to play well to finish out the season to get to that point.
There’s a lot of people that could use the break.”
Los Angeles can still technically chase down the Milwaukee Brewers for the No. 1 seed in the National League, but the path is narrow. The Dodgers would need to finish with a better record than Milwaukee, since they don’t hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. They also do not have the tiebreaker over Atlanta.
Milwaukee can clinch the top seed with one more win, or with a Dodgers loss.
If the Dodgers stay in the No. 2 spot, their NLDS opponent will come from the Wild Card side of the bracket, where the Braves are currently set as the third division champion. The rest of that field is still unsettled, with the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres all bunched together and able to finish in any order as the three Wild Card teams.
What is settled is the start of the Dodgers’ postseason. Game 1 of the NLDS is set for Saturday, Oct. 3 at Dodger Stadium.
Wild Card detours have been rare for Los Angeles in recent years. Since 2013, only three of the Dodgers’ playoff appearances have started with a Wild Card round.
In 2020, every team opened with a best-of-three Wild Card Series because of MLB’s expanded format for the shortened season. In 2021, the Dodgers were pushed into the NL Wild Card Game after losing the division to the San Francisco Giants by one game.
And in 2025, their run to a second straight World Series championship began against the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card Series.
Here is the Dodgers’ NLDS schedule:
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 3, vs. TBD, Dodger Stadium (Fox/FS1/Fox Deportes)
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 4, vs. TBD, Dodger Stadium (Fox/FS1/Fox Deportes)
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 6, @ TBD (Fox/FS1/Fox Deportes)
Game 4*: Wednesday, Oct. 7, @ TBD (Fox/FS1/Fox Deportes)
Game 5*: Friday, Oct. 9, vs. TBD, Dodger Stadium (Fox/FS1/Fox Deportes)
*if necessary
In Other News...
Manny Machado Just Gave Dodgers Fans Another Reason To Hate October
Manny Machado managed to hit two very different notes in the same night during a recent Padres-Dodgers series, and both of them landed squarely in front of the Los Angeles crowd. Before doing damage at the plate, he signed autographs for Dodgers fans, then went on to launch a two-run home run and add a sacrifice fly in the game. For a player who has long been one of the more polarizing figures in the rivalry, it was a reminder that even his courteous moments can come with a competitive edge attached.
He later kept a promise by handing his batting gloves to a young fan, another small gesture that only sharpened the contrast between the public persona and the player Dodgers supporters have spent years bracing against. The bigger question, of course, is what all of this looks like if these teams meet again in October, when every Machado plate appearance carries more weight and every gesture, polite or otherwise, gets folded into the larger tension between San Diego and Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]
Miguel Rojas Shared A Farewell Message Dodgers Fans Will Feel
Miguel Rojas has given Dodgers fans another reason to appreciate what he brings beyond the box score. After announcing he will retire following the 2026 season, he signed a one-year deal with Los Angeles for that final year on the field, keeping him in a familiar role as the Dodgers prepare for another stretch of championship expectations. Even as his playing days wind down, Rojas has already mapped out a future with the organization, with plans to help in player development and the front office in 2027.
Recently, Rojas also sent a public thank-you to Dodgers fans, a message that landed with extra weight because he is clearly nearing the end of his career. It was the kind of farewell note that reminds a fan base how much a veteran can mean over time, especially when a player has become part of the fabric of the clubhouse and the larger organizational picture. For the Dodgers, it adds a human layer to a simple roster move, and for Rojas, it signals that the next chapter may be just as tied to Los Angeles as the last one. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Three Peat Path May Get Toughest Before The World Series
The Dodgers enter 2026 with the kind of roster that keeps them near the top of every postseason conversation, but one of the more interesting takes circulating around the league is that their hardest path might come before the World Series even begins. According to an MLB general manager cited by ESPNs Jeff Passan, the National League playoff field could present a stiffer test than anything waiting on the other side, a reflection of just how deep and competitive the bracket could be.
For a club chasing a third straight title, that framing matters because it shifts the spotlight from Octobers final round to the road there. The idea is not about a confirmed matchup or a settled bracket, just the league-wide sense that the Dodgers could have to survive a tougher set of NL opponents than the American League would offer once the World Series arrives. It is the kind of reminder that repeat championships are rarely won in a straight line. [Read more 🡒]