Dodgers get a bye week after October this year.
Although the club did not secure a top-two seed in the National League playoff bracket (meaning they did not have a first-round bye in the postseason as they had in the previous three years), its success in the National League Championship Series meant they had a lot of time to kill.
By then Game 1 of the World Series Starting Friday, the team will have six days off, similar to the break they had at the start of the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.
And while the Dodgers didn't handle such long layoffs well in 2022 and 2023, getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by an inconsistent offense, they dusted off the scheme that worked so well for them early last fall when they changed their routine en route to a World Series title.
Now, as then, the Dodgers are incorporating more simulated game activities into their schedule. They played a seven-inning sim game on Sunday. They did a few more rounds of live training on Monday.
The team also tries to spend time with each other at the stadium. On Sunday and Monday, players stayed until the end of each practice as Game 6 and 7 of the American League Championship Series were played on the stadium scoreboard.
Mostly, though, the Dodgers are just trying to maintain the momentum of their 9-1 start in the playoffs and see it through. to the World Series in which they will try to become the first in the MLB multiple champion for a quarter of a century.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (center) sits between Tommy Edman and Michael Conforto during practice at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
“All we're trying to do right here is get four more wins to win the World Series,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said. “Last year when we had the bye and the year before that, we were trying to get through another month of baseball. You try to prepare for it. You try to get some guys healthy.”
“I just feel the difference with this [versus] What we've had the last couple of years is that everyone is focused on winning the World Series. We are very close to this. And winning four more games is the most important thing.”
Of course, this week's break has some downsides.
This year, the Dodgers didn't seem to mind playing in the first round wild card immediately after the regular season, in part because it helped them — and especially their surging late-season offense — maintain the lead that fueled their 15-5 victory in late September.
“I think it's nice to take a break and let everybody take a deep breath and rest or something like that,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. But, he added, there's value in “playing and staying in rhythm.”
“We didn’t have that choice,” Betts added, “so we’ll just enjoy the break and be ready to go.”
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts talks to reporters during practice at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
This is where the Dodgers hope the experience from last October comes in handy.
Not only did they have a bye week at the start of the playoffs, but they also successfully navigated the four days off between the end of the NLCS and last year's Fall Classic.
Lesson from this?
“Just rest and continue to hone your skills,” Betts said. “Get ready for whoever on Friday.”
Scott will likely play in the World Series
Not only do the Dodgers have few injury concerns, but they may have other options when constructing their World Series roster.
After being pulled from the NL Division Series roster due to an abscess in his back that became infected, former closer Tanner Scott said he felt healthy enough to compete in the World Series.
“It probably came up, Game 1.” [of the NLDS]I started to feel something,” Scott said. – And then a day off [between Games 2 and 3 of that series]I noticed that something was wrong. When we got back from Philly, we thought, “Hey, we need to take care of this.”
Now that he has done so, the question will be whether Scott will be added back to the Dodgers roster after he posted a 4.74 ERA in the regular season.
“I feel a lot better now,” said Scott, who didn't play in the playoffs before his abscess was opened Oct. 8. “I’m throwing, I’ve thrown a couple bullpens, we’ll see where it takes me.”
“[The abscess was] bad time, but it's great now, so keep going. That's it.
By the time the World Series begins, it will have been almost a month since Scott last pitched. However, he said he's not worried about how such a long break will affect his stuff and joked that he's looking forward to facing Freddie Freeman at bat this week.
“He’s so good and so hard to get him out,” Scott said. “He let me know that the last time he faced me, he got hit by me. But last time I knocked him out. So I always bring it up.”
