The Cincinnati Reds‘ prize for reaching the National League playoffs will be meeting the a Cy Young Award winner and a potential finalist for the award this year — plus the reigning NL MVP in a potential winner-take-all Game 3.
The Los Angeles Dodgers unveiled their starting rotation for the best-of-3 Wild Card series, which will feature Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and potentially Shohei Ohtani starting Game 3 against the Reds.
The Reds (83-79) posted the second-fewest wins of any team to ever qualify for the postseason yet held off the New York Mets for the No. 3 wild card thanks to an 8-3 stretch over their final 11 games.
Snell, Dodgers A Heavy Favorite In Game 1
The Dodgers finished 10 games better than the Reds in the standings and went 5-1 against Cincinnati during the regular season.
Snell will get the ball for Game 1. The Dodgers signed the two-time Cy Young winner to have a Game 1 starter like him, and he went 5-1 with a 1.17 ERA with 48 strikeouts and allowed a .557 OPS and just one home run in 38 1/3 innings at Dodger Stadium this season.
Snell’s season was cut short due to left-shoulder inflammation, but he is 4-4 with a 2.53 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings since coming off the IL.
Plus, Snell is 4-3 in 12 postseason starts, but Dodgers fans likely will remember him going 2-0 for the San Diego Padres — including 2-1 win in Game 3 of the NLDS at Petco Park — in 2022.
Hunter Greene will get the Game 1 start for the Reds. He was 7-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 107 2/3 innings and gave up five runs — three earned runs — in five innings and gave up two home runs to Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages in the Reds’ 7-0 loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 25.
Yamamoto, Ohtani Slated To Pitch Games 2, 3
Yamamoto is having a dream second season in Dodger Blue. He went 12-8 with a 2.48 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and became the first Dodgers pitcher to post 200-plus strikeouts since Walker Buehler in 2021.
So he will get the ball for the Dodgers in Game 2. Yamamoto dominated the Reds in his only outing, spinning seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball while striking out nine in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win at Great American Park on July 28.
Yamamoto was just 3-4 in home starts this season, yet he had a 3.04 ERA in 12 starts at Dodger Stadium this year.
Yet, if the Reds somehow beat either Snell or Yamamoto, they will have to meet Ohtani — who has never made a postseason appearance on the mound in the majors.
Still, Ohtani has become dominant on the mound as the Dodgers work him back from an elbow injury. He is 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA over 47 innings in 14 starts, and his only win this season came when he threw five innings of two-hit, one-run ball while striking out nine in the Dodgers’ 5-1 win on Aug. 27.
When Ohtani served up a third-inning solo home run to Reds outfielder Noelvi Marte, it was the only run he has surrendered in his past 19 2/3 innings. Ohtani hasn’t given up a run, and just eight hits, in his past 14 2/3 innings on the hill — even though the Dodgers are 0-3 in those starts.
Yet, if the Dodgers do the expected and sweep the Reds, USA Today baseball writer Bob Nightengale reported Ohtani will get the ball for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies next weekend.
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