The Los Angeles Dodgers are accustomed to playing in the postseason, but Shohei Ohtani is going to get a taste of it for the first time in his seven-year career.
The two-time American League MVP, who likely will win the NL award this year, has guided Los Angeles to another NL West title.
Ohtani will look to put a bow on this campaign on Friday night when the Dodgers (95-64) start a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies in Denver.
Los Angeles clinched the division with a 7-2 win over San Diego on Thursday night.
The Rockies will send Cal Quantrill (8-10, 4.72 ERA) to the mound on Friday. The Dodgers have not named a starter.
Ohtani became the first major league player to have at least 50 home runs and 50 steals in one season and has helped Los Angeles capture its 11th division title in the last 12 years. He also is the first player to have 400 total bases in a season since Barry Bonds, Todd Helton, Luis Gonzalez and Sammy Sosa did it in 2001.
Los Angeles won’t have shortstop Miguel Rojas for the final three games of the regular season. An MRI on Thursday showed he has a slight tear of his groin/adductor area, and he will be out until the postseason.
“It’s something that he’s had all year, as far as symptomatically dealing with it, so he’ll take a couple days off, and we’ll see where he’s at on Sunday,” manager Dave Roberts said Thursday. “But he’s determined to make sure he’s ready for the postseason.”
Winning the division gives Rojas an extra four days to rest — the Dodgers will open at home on Oct. 5 instead of Tuesday in the wild-card round — and it gives first baseman Freddie Freeman a chance to recover. Freeman limped off the field in Thursday’s game after rolling his right ankle in the seventh inning.
He was in a walking boot and on crutches in the clubhouse after the game. Freeman had X-rays, which were negative, and the Dodgers are optimistic he will be ready for the playoffs.
Colorado (61-98), meanwhile, is trying to avoid a second straight 100-loss season, and it helped its cause with a 10-8 comeback win over St. Louis on Thursday. The Rockies nearly won the last series against the Dodgers, but Los Angeles rallied at home in the rubber match on Sunday. Now, Colorado wants to finish strongly in front of its home crowd and give veteran Charlie Blackmon a retirement gift.
“The games against the Dodgers at their place were competitive,” Rockies manager Bud Black said Thursday. “We could have won two out of three, but two of their big boys got us in the ninth.”
Quantrill started the only game Colorado won in Los Angeles last week but didn’t factor into the decision. He will face the Dodgers for the eighth time in his career and is 1-5 with a 7.18 ERA in the previous seven outings – six of them starts.
