No team has repeated as World Series Champions since the New York Yankees won three titles in a row from 1998 to 2000. However, as the Los Angeles Dodgers take a 2-0 NLCS lead over the Milwaukee Brewers back to Dodger Stadium for Games 3-5, it’s beginning to feel like that could change.
Thus far this postseason, their starting pitching has come up, well, aces.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up three runs over just four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in NLDS Game 3, the only game that the Dodgers have lost so far this postseason. He responded by striking out seven and allowing just three hits and one run during a complete-game Tuesday in Game 2 vs. Milwaukee.
Yamamoto’s complete game was the first in the postseason since Justin Verlander did it for the Houston Astros in the 2016 ALCS. The last time a Dodger tossed a complete game in the postseason before this evening was José Lima in Game 4 of the 2004 NLDS.
In Game 1, Blake Snell continued what’s turning into one of the greatest postseason runs in MLB history, striking out 10 batters and allowing just one hit over eight shutout innings. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has pitched to a minuscule 0.86 ERA over three starts so far in the playoffs.
Tyler Glasnow will take the ball in Game 3 on Thursday. While he’s struggled to stay healthy in his career—and only made 18 regular-season starts in 2025—Glasnow reminded the world how dominant he can be in a closeout performance against the Phillies last Thursday, striking out eight and allowing just two hits across six shutout innings.
And looming for Game 4? Shohei Ohtani. Though he allowed three runs over six innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies, Ohtani struck out nine in his first career postseason start. For him to be the fourth starter in Dave Roberts’ rotation this series is pretty remarkable.
For so much of the year, the Dodgers struggled with injuries to their pitchers. Of Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani, Yamamoto is the only one who made more than 19 starts during the regular season. But the quartet is peaking at the exact right time.
Entering the postseason, there were legitimate concerns about the Dodgers’ bullpen, which posted a 4.90 ERA in September, 25th among all teams.
One way to mitigate that concern is to have such a dominant starting rotation that you don’t need to use the bullpen. Yamamoto—who now has a 1.83 ERA to show for three postseason starts—has been at the forefront of making that a reality.
Of course, Roki Sasaki—who disappointed in 36.1 innings pitched as a starter during his much-anticipated rookie season—emerging as a legitimate closer has been a huge boost to the Dodgers’ chances at repeating as World Series Champions.
Tanner Scott (lower body abscess) is off the roster for the NLCS, and Blake Treinen has had some shaky moments in five postseason appearances, but Sasaki has stabilized the back end of the bullpen with two saves and a 1.50 ERA so far this October in six innings.
Perhaps the scariest part for the three other remaining teams—the Brewers, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays—is that Los Angeles’ lineup really hasn’t scratched the surface of their potential despite a 7-1 record in the playoffs.
Ohtani did have an RBI in the 5-1 Game 2 victory over the Brewers, but also struck out three times and has just a .147 batting average so far this postseason.
Outside of Ohtani’s two-homer performance against the Reds in NLWCS Game 1, he’s been a net negative offensively this postseason. How much longer will opposing pitchers be able to keep Ohtani—who homered 55 times en route to a likely fourth MVP—from taking over a game at the plate?
Elsewhere, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith are each hitting under .250 in the playoffs, a trend that also seems unlikely to continue much longer. The Dodgers have averaged three runs over their last three games. They’re 3-0, which is both a testament to how great their pitching has been and a reminder of why they currently feel overwhelmingly likely to win their second consecutive World Series title.
Things can change in a hurry this time of year, but the Dodgers are about to head home for three games (if the third is even needed), and there’s legitimate reason to think their offense is going to get better soon.
So much of winning it all comes down to peaking at the right time, and the 2025 Dodgers are doing just that.
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