It will not feel like the fall when the Dodgers begin their postseason campaign on Saturday.
Especially if the Chicago Cubs win their wild-card series this week against the San Diego Padres.
Though the Dodgers will square off in their National League Division Series against the winner of the NL’s other wild-card series this week between the Braves and Phillies, the outcome of the Cubs-Padres matchup could suddenly have a profound impact on the Dodgers’ playoff opener.
If the Cubs advance to the NL’s other best-of-five division series against the Milwaukee Brewers, then the Dodgers will play Game 1 of their NLDS at 6 p.m. local time on Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
If the Padres win, then the Dodgers’ NLDS opener will be at 1 p.m. local time that day.
Normally, such a difference wouldn’t matter.
But this weekend, a heat wave is set to descend upon Los Angeles, which could see first-pitch temperatures of close to 100 degrees if the Dodgers were to get the earlier start time.
“It’s going to be a hot weekend,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And to play at night would certainly be more beneficial.”
That doesn’t mean Roberts and the Dodgers will be outright rooting for the Cubs in their wild-card series. In much the same way the Dodgers aren’t preoccupied about whether they face the Braves or Phillies in the NLDS, they aren’t getting hung up on Saturday’s to-be-decided start time.
Still, the uncertainty has already impacted them in at least one way.
Roberts said the club was not yet ready to name its starting rotation in the NLDS, citing not only the uncertainty of their opponent, but also the fact that they are “not sure about game times and things like that.”
The likeliest rotation order figures to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 1, Tarik Skubal in Game 2, Blake Snell in Game 3 and Tyler Glasnow in Game 4.
That alignment would allow Yamamoto to stay on his typical five-days-of-rest schedule between Game 1 and a potential Game 5, Snell to get extra time over the weekend to build up after his recent groin injury, and Glasnow to possibly be an option out of the bullpen earlier in the series (similar to how he was used last October).
For now, however, a final decision hasn’t been made.
The Dodgers still want to see who they are playing –– and when their potentially blistering playoff opener will begin.
