2023 MLB postseason dates: Dodgers primed to benefit from NLDS schedule?

foreign what's up everybody welcome into Dodger heads presented by dodgerblue.com part of the bluewire podcast Network my name is Jeff Spiegel joined today by Blake Williams Blake it's always weird when these things come out but the Major League Baseball has released the postseason schedule for October and Beyond of course we don't know who's going to make it the Dodgers currently have a healthy lead in the National League West and here's kind of how it breaks down Blake and the question I want to ask you is as a Dodgers fan is this good news is this bad news is this who cares news um October 1st the last day of the regular season the Wild Card round will be up we're third fourth and fifth nlds starts on October 7th what's interesting about the nlds is that you pretty much only need three starters for the nlds because your game one starter on October 7th could come back on October 12th for game four on perfectly normal rest your game two starter would be on normal rest for game five by the time you get to the NLCS and the World Series it's a little more complicated you probably need a fourth starter or everybody's going on short rest but like I said I think the nlds is what got my attention so Blake as you look at this schedule does this does it move the needle is this a big deal is this no deal is this good news how do you interpret it it's good for the Dodgers because we don't know who they're number three and number four starter is and you can even make a case you don't know who their number two starter is right now yeah so only having to rely on three starters is definitely beneficial but I'd also say it depends on who they match up with because say they face the Brewers and you have to face Corbin Burns twice ready for Alta or Brandon Woodruff twice and then the other one of those guys once like that's not ideal for any team to face and that kind of makes a team like the Brewers who you wouldn't be as scared of in a seven game series a lot more worrisome in a five game series so if the Dodgers are healthy and Kershaw and Julio are pitching like we know they can and there's they kind of get some solid production out of their number three starter like the Dodgers are probably going to be favored to advance still but yeah if they have to face a rotation which is like three guys like that could be worrisome too so it's good for the Dodgers but also like it depends who they play yeah I think it's a great Point sometimes we look at it through the lens of like well this helps the Dodgers but if it equally or even more so helps the team they are playing against it isn't necessarily a net positive on the surface I'm with you the fact that I look at the nlds and and let's say Clayton Kershaw is your game one starter that he could pitch game one and game four if necessary on normal rest that is great news Julio could pitch game two in game five on normal rest that's great news obviously once you get to the NLCS and World Series you need something in that game four slot whether it's a bullpen game um or whatever but I'm with you I tend to think this is good news I'm curious Blake as we discussed I think every Dodgers fan is crossing their fingers that Clayton Kershaw is the game one starter Julio Urias is the game two starter you could flip those if you want if you had to choose right now who's your game three starter for the Dodgers well uh I think I heard previously that Lance Lynn is winning the Cy Young after the Dodgers acquired him from someone I can't remember who said that I think it might have been you but so for La as of right now Lance Lynn he looks pretty good I guess it depends how Bobby Miller finishes the season too like yeah if he finishes strong I could see him making a push for that number three spot but just with the veteran I think they might end up giving the edge to Elaine with how good he's looked recently yeah to be clear that was a quote that I made ingest that as Matthew Moreno is prone to do was immediately clipped by him it might have been clipped by somebody on Twitter as well but immediately clipped to make it seem like I thought Lance Lynn was going to win the Cy Young which through two starts maybe maybe I like the clip that we've made because Lance Lynn has been pretty good I think you're probably right I probably agree I think it's going to be Lance Lynn and again crossing your fingers that Tony gunsling or Bobby Miller or somebody else kind of takes that out of his hands you don't want Lance Lynn to lose the number three spot but if if Bobby Miller or Tony godslin can close this season as we know they are capable of closing it and and maybe grasp that that would make me feel a little bit better Lance Lynn um eating Innings not necessarily as important come post these in time so some of the things he offers uh not necessarily as much of a benefit but Godzilla and Bobby Miller those could be the game four starters if you could go Bullpen game I'm surprised you didn't say Walker Bueller there but like Walker Bueller not the not the game three starter we'll see he he still seems optimistic he's going to be back September 1st the Dodgers see him still pessimistic about it I mean maybe he can come in and pitch a few Innings and then they follow with Ryan Yarbrough or have Bobby Miller follow him but we'll see I for me Walker Bueller is just kind of a roll of the dice throw we don't really know what's happening with him yet lots of those in the Dodgers uh rotation right now the roll of the dice lottery tickets that you're crossing your fingers as I've said along it's kind of like the Dodgers have gone out and bought four or five lottery tickets and they need two winners they need one or two winners if they can get one or two winners for a number three and maybe a number three and a half starter out of gonselin Miller Sheehan Yarborough you know Walker Bueller Ryan pepeo whoever it is if you can just get a couple guys to click to start building some momentum I think it could be good but again the good news for the Dodgers if they can avoid that Wild Card round by winning the division having the second best record in the National League which they currently do and if they can just get to the nlds they'll have a fully rested rotation and the ability to throw guys on normal rest and not have to get to a number four starter so could be great news for them um let us know what you guys think in the comments below I'm curious to get a pulse on Dodger fans who do you have in that number three spot is it Lance Lynn after a couple good starts are you a Tony gunsling believer I don't think there's a a ton of those necessarily out there right now is it Bobby Miller Emmett Sheehan I'm I would guess that we're going to get a lot of mhg in comments below so we're curious to see how that plays out but um as always you can check out dodgerblue.com dodger blue 1958 and social media and as we've been saying lately if you're a podcast person even if you're not a podcast person download Spotify Google Apple whatever search for the Dodger head podcast we'd love if you would follow rate and review that would do us a huge huge help that is Blake Williams my name is Jeff Spiegel as always this is Dodger heads presented by dodgerblue.com enjoy the rest of your day and of course go Dodgers