This article is part of our MLB Picks series.
MLB Best Bets Today: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
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Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres in this playoff matchup between bitter rivals. These two teams interestingly kicked off the 2024 season with a two-game series in South Korea. Now one of them will end the other's season.
The Padres didn't make the playoffs last season but are back this year and riding high coming off a two-game sweep of the Braves in the Wild Card Series. The Dodgers had the best record in the entire league this season going 98-64, so they have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and a first-round bye. The Dodgers have had quite a tumultuous run the past 10 years or so. They have made the playoffs every year since 2013, which is quite an accomplishment. They made it to the World Series in 2017 and 2018, losing to the Astros in seven games (2017) and to the Red Sox in five games (2018). They were ousted in the NLDS in 2019 by the eventual champion Nationals. Then they made it back to the World Series for the third time in four years during the COVID-shortened season, but this time they were able to pull through and won their first World Series since 1988 against the Rays. Unfortunately, there were no fans in the stadiums and they weren't even able to play home games as the entire playoffs took place in a bubble. They made it back to the NLCS in 2021 to defend their World Series title but they lost to the Braves. Since then, they were ousted by the Padres in the NLDS in 2022 and by the Diamondbacks last year. They won just one game combined in the playoffs the last two seasons. However, they made a big offseason splash to add Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They are now back for revenge.
The Padres' playoff history is a bit different. They started investing in their team again recently, making the playoffs in 2020 and 2022. Before that, the last time they made the playoffs was in 2006. They were swept by the Dodgers in the bubble in 2020 but beat them in the 2022 NLDS before eventually losing to the Phillies in the NLCS.
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Yamamoto will make the start in Game 1 for the Dodgers. He faced the Padres in that Korean Series in the first game of the season and was rocked by the Padres, allowing five runs in one inning. However, he settled in before he was injured for a lot of the season. He faced the Padres one more time in April and allowed three runs in five innings. He returned from his injury in September and has only made four starts since. He has not gone more than five innings in any of those four outings and has looked a little rusty. Dylan Cease is starting for the Padres. He has had a great season after being traded to the Padres in the offseason. He faced the Dodgers twice this season, allowing one run in 5.2 innings in his first outing and three runs in five innings in his second outing. Both these teams have had incredible bullpens all season long, so I wouldn't expect too many runs to be scored in this series once starting pitchers are out. However, both teams have also been crushing righties all season long with both ranked in the top five in wOBA this season. The Padres are 8-5 against the Dodgers this season, though, and they only lost one series to the Dodgers all season. This is going to be a very close series with two of the best teams in the league facing off, which is exactly why I am taking the team at plus-money. The Padres can carry their momentum over from the Wild Card Series while all the pressure in the world is on the Dodgers at home after those offseason additions.
Best MLB Bet Today
Padres ML (+118 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
