The Philadelphia Phillies get to enjoy their second straight postseason run with a bye week as the Wild Card round begins on Tuesday. The Phillies clinched the NL East and secured the No. 2 seed in the National League with a 96-66 record, so they await the winner of the Wild Card series between the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Dodgers and the No. 6 seed Cincinnati Reds.
Phillies fans will be paying close attention to the first round, especially the 9 p.m. ET first pitch between the Reds and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. It's a best-of-three series to decide the Phillies' NLDS opponent starting Saturday.
Who will be the more favorable matchup for the Phillies in the NLDS?
Dodgers would be a scary NLDS opponent for the Phillies
The Dodgers may hold the No. 3 seed and the worst record of the NL division winners at 93-69, but they can turn it on in the blink of an eye. Fans may remember their 1-2 comeback against the San Diego Padres in the NLDS last postseason. They looked lifeless until they went on an unbelievable tear, losing just three games the rest of their championship run. They have a roster loaded with proven talent that they can ride if they get hot at the right time.
The Dodgers have the likes of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and two-way star Shohei Ohtani. They may not be playing at full strength with some veterans underperforming, but there's never a good time to test that theory in a best-of-five elimination series.
They have a ton of starting pitching, with their only weakness being the bullpen, which the Phillies exploited on their last trip to the West Coast. They acquired starter Blake Snell and reliever Tanner Scott, among others, in the offseason. Scott has struggled with a 4.74 ERA, but Snell has sported a 2.35 ERA over his 11 starts, mostly in the second half of the season, in which he usually excels.
The Phillies handled the Dodgers 4-2 in the regular season and looked like the better team overall, but everything starts over once you get to October.
Reds would be the better option for the Phillies to face in NLDS
The Reds would be the matchup the Phillies should want for their first taste of postseason action in 2025. They finished the season at 83-79, ironically, the same record as the eliminated New York Mets. Those two battled over the last few weeks for the final playoff spot, but it ultimately came down to the Reds holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mets to sneak into only their second playoff berth since 2014.
The Reds have one of the strangest storylines heading into the postseason. They didn't have a qualified batter hit over .270, a batter who hit 25 or more home runs, a pitcher record 200 innings or strikeouts, or a pitcher record at least 15 wins. Despite those stats, they still made the playoffs, which has never happened in MLB history, according to OptaSTATS.
It's worth noting, however, that they did lose their ace Hunter Greene for half of the year, along with some other pitching injuries. Greene is back and the Reds have a legitimate rotation that ranked ninth in baseball with a 3.86 ERA.
The problem for the Reds and a reason for a potential downfall will be an offense with familiar foe Austin Hays as their cleanup hitter. They will have a hard time hitting good starting pitching with a .391 slugging percentage, which ranked 21st in MLB. Even if they can take down the Dodgers with an upset for the ages, the Phillies have a deeper rotation and a lineup that can slug their way through to the NLCS.
While the fans might, the Phillies truly don't care who they face. It would be nice to face the last seed Reds at a sizable advantage, but it would also be just as satisfying, if not more, to take down the Dodgers themselves.
The Phillies can sit back and enjoy their time off. No matter who they're facing in the NLDS come Saturday, they'll be ready to carve out their path to the World Series title by month's end.