Dodgers have ‘unfinished business’ against rival Friars

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LOS ANGELES — As the entire Dodgers team and staff held their watch parties for the Wild Card Series this week, there was no secret to anyone around the league as to who would be the more favorable opponent for Los Angeles in the National League Division Series.

Though the Dodgers have had plenty of postseason battles against the Braves over the years, L.A. handled Atlanta this season fairly easily, going 5-2, including a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium.

On the other hand, the Dodgers went 4-8 against the Padres. They won just one series against their division rivals — and that came at the end of the regular season to help seal an 11th NL West title in 12 seasons.

But for the Dodgers, playing the Padres in the postseason always seemed inevitable. And they believe they’re ready for the challenge.

“This is going to be a good fight,” shortstop Miguel Rojas said. “Two teams that have been playing really good baseball, starting the year together in Korea. It’s been back and forth all year.

“We know each other really well and I feel like it’s going to be a really good series for baseball and the whole world of sports.”

Outside of what it means for this year’s postseason and their journey to win the World Series, the opportunity to play the Padres also sets the stage for some redemption for the Dodgers.

The two teams met in the 2022 NLDS. The Dodgers were fresh off their best season ever, setting a franchise record with 111 wins during the regular season. Most people had them booked for a spot in the World Series. Given how lopsided the rivalry had been up to that point, the NLDS was just going to be a formality.

Instead, the Padres played the series with far more intensity than the Dodgers. After falling behind in the series, the Dodgers never matched the fire the Padres played with. It was something the team talked about after the fact. But the reality was their historic season ended after just four games.

Since then, San Diego, undeniably, treated the matchups against Los Angeles with more intensity. That helped the Padres get the best of the Dodgers for most of the ’24 season. But in their last regular-season meeting, that all seemed to change.

After dropping the series opener, the Dodgers matched the intensity. The best example of that was when Will Smith, one of the most reserved players on the team, launched his bat up to the sky after hitting a game-tying, two-run homer off Joe Musgrove. It no longer felt like “just another game” for the Dodgers.

“I think ‘unfinished business’ is something that resonates with our guys,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Like I said, I talk about it, but we’ve got to go out there and be about it, talk about the edge, the fight, but I really do feel that’s the mindset that we’re coming into. It’s an edgy group right now, which I think is a good thing.”