Cody Snavely
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ quest for their fourth trip to the World Series in the last ten years begins tonight as they await the New York Mets. The Mets have taken the National League by storm by taking down the ninety-three-win Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Wild Card round and the ninety-five-win Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series.
The Dodgers, fresh off their winner-take-all game five of the NLDS over the San Diego Padres, are in an excellent spot for the first two games of this series, not only having home-field advantage but having their starting rotation kick off with back-to-back starters with Flaherty going tonight and Buehler likely taking the ball tomorrow.
It is the first National League Championship game at Dodger Stadium since game five of the 2021 season when the Dodgers destroyed the Atlanta Braves 11-2, forcing a game six off the back of Chris Taylor, who hit three home runs.
It is the first meeting between the two clubs in the postseason since the 2015 National League Division Series, which the New York Mets won in five games, and their first meeting in the National League Championship Series since the 1988 season, which had the Dodgers winning in seven games in route to their sixth World Series title in franchise history.
It is the first time since late May that the Dodgers and Mets are playing, with Los Angeles coming out on top in the season series, winning four of their six matchups. However, between then and now, these are two very different teams, and game one will be the start of what will be a highly contested series between the two historic clubs.
On the rubber
Jack Flaherty (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs Kodai Senga (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
Taking the mound for his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers is right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty, who will make his second start this postseason.
It will be the second career start for Flaherty in the National League Championship Series after taking the ball in game three against the Washington Nationals in 2019.
Flaherty was initially penciled in to kick off the Dodgers in October with a game one start in the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres but was then flipped a day before the series began.
Flaherty instead took the ball in game two, and it was not the most memorable night for the righty, who allowed four earned runs on five hits in 5.1 innings, a game that also included a shouting match with known “team leader” Manny Machado.
Flaherty never got his chance at redemption versus the Padres as the team opted again to go with rookie right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but he will get a chance at a clean slate with tonight’s game one start.
On the rubber for the New York Mets is the “Ghost Forkball” legend Kodai Senga, who will also be making his second start this postseason.
After a strong rookie season for Senga, which saw him make the 2023 all-star team and finish the campaign with a 12-7 record and 2.98 ERA, it was a lost season for his sophomore year.
Senga only made one start during the regular season on July 26th, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing two runs while collecting nine strikeouts after missing the entire first half of the season due to a right shoulder capsule strain.
However, after months of rehab and training to come back, Senga injured his calf in his first start, which could’ve ended his season if the Mets had not gone on a postseason run.
Senga took the ball in a game of the National League Division Series and immediately gave up a leadoff home run to Philadelphia Phillies leadoff batter Kyle Schwarber but would stay collected, finishing with two innings and collecting three strikeouts.
It will be Senga’s third start of the season as the Mets, like the Dodgers, try to devise a pitching plan for a potential seven-game series.
Who to watch?
My player to watch for the Dodgers is right-fielder Mookie Betts, who looks to take his hot bat from games three and four of the NLDS into the NLCS.
Betts is 3-for-3 against New York Mets right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga, with one of those three hits being a home run.
So far this postseason, Betts is hitting .222/.333/.556 with a .889 OPS in five games. For the Dodgers’ offense to continue its dominance, they’ll need Betts’s bat to show up.
For the New York Mets, I’ll group together their entire bullpen, which has been underwhelming this postseason with a combined 4.01 ERA.
With Senga taking the ball in game one, one should only expect him to go around three innings with the bullpen eating up most of the work.
While the Mets could go with someone like David Peterson for length after Segna is done, they’ll need to see improvements from their bullpen to win this game or series.
Where to watch
The National League postseason will be exclusively broadcast on Fox Sports One (FS1) or Fox all the way up until the World Series.
Dodgers play-by-play broadcast announcer Joe Davis will join Atlanta Braves legend John Smoltz on the call, as this series will be broadcast by the primetime Fox baseball crew.
First pitch for game five is set for 5:15 PM PT at Chavez Ravine.
Betting Odds
The Dodgers are favored in this one, at -160, while the underdog Mets have +135 odds to play spoiler. Los Angeles is a 1.5-run favorite (at +135 odds). The over/under is 8 runs for the contest (with -115 odds to go over and -105 odds on the under).
The Los Angeles Dodgers are also the favorite in win probabilities at 54%, while the New York Mets sit as the underdog at 46%.
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