Dodgers prepare for a rocky road en route to the 2018 World Series

Should the Dodgers return to the Series, there’s no telling who they’ll meet, but chances are we’ll see another rematch of postseasons past in the NLCS.

The Chicago Cubs expect to be playing in October. The Washington Nationals expect to be playing in October. The Dodgers know both of those teams incredibly well. They’ve beaten the Nationals before, and they’ve beat the Cubs. Then again, they’ve also lost to the Cubs, and they’ve struggled against the Nats.

One of the Dodgers’ biggest hurdles will be one, if not both of these teams come October.

Their best bet? Finish with the best record in the National League again.

Should they do that, they’ll play the wild card team (which, as of now, could be the Rockies, the D-Backs, the Brewers,  or the Cardinals) and then the winner of the second NLDS. This is the route the Dodgers took to get to the World Series last fall, and it’s the route they should take again.

We all remember Game 5.  We remember the moment the Dodgers redeemed themselves for Game 6 the previous fall, all but obliterating the pain of that Cubs victory.

"“So this is what happens when a group of locals finally reaches baseball’s biggest stage after 28 years of wandering around its darkened back hallways.” -Bill Plaschke of the LA Times"

The Dodgers seem destined to return to the postseason; I think we’d all be surprised if they didn’t, but in all likelihood, the road to the World Series will go through Chicago, Washington or both.

Thinking about the Dodgers returning to Houston, or going to New York for the series does little for the team now.

They have to prepare for what they can better predict.