The Dodgers’ bid for back-to-back World Series championships continues on Tuesday, when they face off against the Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-three series to see who moves on to the National League Divisional Series.
Despite taking the National League West title with a 93-69 record, the Boys in Blue were forced into the Wild Card Round as they had fewer wins than the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers. They’ll play host for the entire series against the Reds, who clinched the league’s final playoff spot as the New York Mets were shutout by the Miami Marlins.
Each team sports a contingent of talented ballplayers, though the Dodgers are the clear favorite in star power. They’re led by Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani, who will be performing as a two-way player for the first time in October.
He finished the year with a career-high 55 home runs and drove in 102 runs, and as the season progressed, he also saw more and more opportunities on the mound as he continued recovering from a procedure on his throwing elbow. In 14 starts, Ohtani threw 47 innings and struck out 62 batters while maintaining a 2.87 ERA. He kept hitters to a .227 average and allowed just three home runs.
Along with Ohtani, the Dodgers feature two more former MVPs in Mookie Betts, who, despite having a down year offensively, still managed to eclipse 20 home runs and 80 RBIs, and Freddie Freeman, who finished the season with 24 home runs and 90 runs driven in while hitting .295.
The Dodgers’ pitching rotation is also loaded with high-profile players like Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell. They’ve already announced that Clayton Kershaw, who is retiring at year’s end, will be left off the Wild Card roster.
As for Cincinnati, they’re largely carried by a younger group of players led by the electric Elly De La Cruz. He earned an All-Star Game selection again this season, marking his second time since making his MLB debut in 2023. He finished the year hitting .264 with 22 home runs and 86 runs driven in. He stole 37 bases and played in all 162 of the Reds’ games.
De La Cruz is supported by the likes of TJ Friedl, Spencer Steer, Matt McLain and Noelvi Marte. The Dodgers will also face off against former friend Gavin Lux, who was traded in the offseason.
The Reds have a talented starting rotation made up of young pitchers, mostly led by flamethrower Hunter Greene. All-Star Game selection Andrew Abbott had a breakout campaign in just his third full season in the big leagues, and Nick Lodolo and Brady Singer continued to compound on successful starts to their own careers.
This will only be the second time that the two storied franchises face off against each other in the postseason. In 1995, they met in the NLDS, a series sweep by Cincinnati.
Season statistics compared
The two teams matched up six times in 2025, with the Dodgers easily taking the season series 5-1. They were undefeated against Cincinnati at Dodger Stadium.
Through 162 games, the Dodgers tallied the second-most home runs (244) and runs scored (825), both just behind last year’s World Series rivals in the New York Yankees. They had the seventh-most hits (1,384) and the sixth-highest batting average (.253).
The Reds, on the other hand, finished below the league average in several offensive categories. They had the 10th-fewest homers (167) and finished 14th in runs scored (716). They hit at a .245 clip and had 1,333 hits.
They square up a little more evenly on the mound, however.
The Dodgers’ pitching staff had a 3.95 ERA this season, allowing 683 runs and 175 homers. They struck out a league-high 1,505 batters and kept opposing hitters to a .232 batting average while stranding 1,093 runners.
Cincinnati’s staff finished the year with a 3.86 ERA and allowed 681 runs. They gave up 190 home runs and struck out 1,380 hitters. Opposing batters hit .233 against the Reds, and they stranded 1,070 base runners.
Pitching matchups
Blake Snell is scheduled to take the mound in Game 1 against the Reds’ Hunter Greene, a Los Angeles native who graduated from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks in 2017.
In his first season in Los Angeles, Snell had a 5-4 record with a 2.35 ERA. He tallied 72 strikeouts in 61 and 1/3 innings pitched after missing a large part of the year due to a shoulder injury.
The last time he pitched against Cincinnati, while still a member of the San Francisco Giants, Snell threw his first career no-hitter.
Greene, who also had a few IL stints this season, finished the year with a 7-4 record and 2.76 ERA. He had 132 strikeouts in 107 and 2/3 innings pitched. In five starts against the Dodgers since 2022, Greene is 1-3 and has a 4.55 ERA after allowing 14 runs in 27 and 2/3 innings.
In his lone start against Los Angeles this year, on Aug. 25, he threw five innings in which he allowed three earned runs and two unearned runs. It would end up as a 7-0 Dodgers victory.
The Dodgers will send Yamamoto to the mound in Game 2, and if necessary, the team expects to see Ohtani toe the bump in the deciding Game 3 matchup.
The Reds have not yet announced their pitching decisions for the rest of the series, but the Dodgers can expect to see one of Lodolo, Singer, Abbott or Zack Littell.
What’s next?
Whoever wins will go on to face the Phillies, who cruised to a National League East division title and received a bye for having the league’s best record.
All statistics listed are attributed to Baseball Reference.