The Los Angeles Dodgers had just dismantled the Cincinnati Reds 8-4, sweeping the Wild Card series with ease. Manager Dave Roberts said after that, “I think we can win it all. I think we’re equipped to do that. We certainly have the pedigree. We certainly have the hunger. We’re playing great baseball. And in all honesty, I don’t care who we play. I just want to be the last team standing.”  But behind that public confidence Dodgers know their next opponent hasn’t just the ability to win against them, they currently deserve the World Series by all means.

The Dodgers are now heading east to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the best-of-five Division Series that will begin Saturday in front of an away crowd at Citizens Bank Park. And it will not be an easy series by any chance. So, Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY revealed the private sentiment that’s looming inside the Dodgers organization, writing, “The Dodgers won’t say it – not wanting to disrespect the other 10 teams still in the dance – but they believe this very well could be their World Series.”

Nightengale notes this is the same feeling they faced during their last year’s tense series against the Padres, when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts later said: “From my perspective, that was the World Series,” just after winning Game 4 in the 2024 NLDS. And according to Nightengale, this season the Phillies  are “the beast of the East, winning 96 games with a star-studded lineup.” That lineup features Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Trea Turner on offense. And with Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and Jesus Luzardo in the rotation, they aren’t just lethal but also have plenty of recent postseason experience.

Plus, history is not on the side of the Boys in Blue. The two teams met in the postseason last time in 2009, when the Phillies sent the Dodgers packing 4 games to 1 in the NLCS, just as they did the year before. That Nightengale ironically wrote, “The Phillies and Dodgers last met in the postseason… back when Shohei Ohtani was a 15-year-old at Hanamaki Higashi High School in Japan, and Harper was 17.” And you have to go all the way back to 1978 to find the last time the Dodgers beat the Phillies in a playoff series. And this season?  The Dodgers lost four of their six games against the Fightin’ Phils during this year’s regular season.

Still, the Dodgers “are convinced they are peaking just at the right time,” as Nightengale reported. They have won 17 of their last 22 games, and the offense is firing on all cylinders. And their starting pitching has been lights out with Blake Snell in the first Wild Card game and now Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the last game against the Reds, striking out nine batters in a dominant performance.

But this epic showdown could come down to which team’s biggest weakness breaks first under the postseason pressure.

For all their greatness, the defending champs have a flashing warning

Their bullpen. This can be their Achilles’ heel. The unit has a collective 4.28 ERA in the whole season and ranks as the sixth-worst bullpen ERA in the 68 seasons since the team moved to Los Angeles is the only weakness the Dodgers are still facing. After Blake Snell’s dominant 7 innings, where he silenced the Reds’ bat most of the innings and allowed only 4 hits Dodgers’ bullpen surrendered 3 runs in the single eighth inning. It’s only for the Snell’s dominant start and a brilliant offense powered by double homers from Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez, they remained in the game.

Even in the next game, where they swept the Reds in the Wild Card series, manager Dave Roberts had to use rookie Emmet Shehen and Rookie Sasaki, who started most of the time for the team.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, the Phillies are the team best equipped to exploit this weakness. Because,  throughout the season, the Phillies play their best baseball in the game’s final innings, where they scored an incredible 279 runs in the seventh inning or later this season. That is the most of any team in the majors.

However, the Phillies have their own set of problems and, ironically, it is also their bullpen. The middle relievers for the Phils have been their biggest weakness. Closer Jhoan Duran and starters will be great, but what about the pitchers’ work as a bridge in between them? Matt Strahm, David Robertson, and Orion Kerkering all have shown their vulnerability. Plus, hitters like Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm have gone through prolonged slumps this season and can be inconsistent at any time.

So, this series will be a heavyweight bout between two teams where the winners will be decided by which team’s lineup can do more damage to the other’s shaky bullpen.