The Los Angeles Dodgers expect superstar Shohei Ohtani to be nearing full strength when they take on the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series with an eye on a third straight World Series title.
The four-time Most Valuable Player, who landed in the injured list with nagging left knee and right biceps injuries late in the regular season, has benefitted from five days off as the 100-win Dodgers enjoyed a first-round bye, manager Dave Roberts said.
"I feel confident that you're going to see the best version of Shohei of the last two months," Roberts said. "I know that's sort of a low bar given his injury, but I do think that he's as healthy as he’s been in quite some time.
"Every day from the training staff, it keeps getting better ... he'll be a threat in the lineup."
The Dodgers are chasing the first World Series three-peat since the New York Yankees won it all in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Tarik Skubal -- the two-time reigning Cy Young Award-winner acquired from Detroit in August to bolster that bid -- is expected to start game one of the best-of-five series against the Braves on Saturday.
The Milwaukee Brewers, the top seeds in the National League after winning 103 regular-season games, will take on the San Diego Padres while in the American League the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays face the New York Yankees and the second-seeded Cleveland Guardians meet the Chicago White Sox -- who had the backing of lifelong fan Pope Leo XIV during their Wild Card win over the Houston Astros.
The Braves topped the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 in the best-of-three Wild Card series to book their sixth post-season showdown with the Dodgers.
Atlanta have been buoyed by the dominant pitching of Chris Sale and a resurgent Tyler Mahle while the Dodgers, even with Ohtani unable to pitch, have a formidable rotation that includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow in addition to Skubal.
"Everyone knows the Dodgers have a juggernaut, but we played well against them this year," said Braves manager Walt Weiss, who was scrambling to get his roster settled as the team headed to Los Angeles after beating Philadelphia 6-2 on Thursday night to clinch their series win.
"That doesn't carry a whole lot of stock. Once the playoffs begin everybody starts at zero. The Dodgers are healthier now than they were when we saw them."
The Brewers finished with the best record in baseball for the second straight year and after falling short of the fall Classic in each of their past nine trips to the playoffs they're determined to cash in on their regular-season capital.
But they'll face a red-hot team in the Padres, who clinched a playoff berth with a 16-5 record in September and swept the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in their Wild Card series.
"They're playing so well and they're super talented, a super talented, confident team right now with, we all know, the best bullpen in baseball, with some real mega stars in the lineup," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of the Padres. "And they're rolling, but that's what you're going to face at this time of year."
The Brewers will give the ball to flame-throwing pitcher Jacob Misiorowski for game one. The 24-year-old, whose fastball averages 100.6 mph and has topped 105.5 mph, racked up 16 wins in the regular season with an earned run average of 1.90 and an NL-leading 252 strikeouts.
Uncertainty was hanging over the Yankees as they headed to Tampa Bay after knocking out the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card round despite the absence of injured star Aaron Judge.
Judge's status for the division series was in doubt just a day before Saturday's game one, but Rays manager Kevin Cash said New York posed a formidable offensive threat even without him.
"It's incredibly impressive, the offensive success that they have had missing the best hitter in our sport," Cash said.
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