Recap: Dodgers Clinch the NL West
Well, it took a little longer than expected, some may even say we limped across the finish line, but at long last, the Dodgers have clinched the NL West. For the Fifth Consecutive Year!
NL West Champs!! #ThisTeam has won their fifth consecutive division title! pic.twitter.com/PqnsRsdqTE
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 23, 2017
The Dodgers journey to this point has been a memorable one indeed. With Cody Bellinger breaking the NL rookie home run record tonight, Alex Wood breaking out into dominance this year, Chris Taylor establishing himself as one of the baseball’s elite, and Corey Seager proving the sophomore slump wrong, this year has been full of headlines. Now it’s time to clinch home-field advantage in the postseason and prepare to make a run at the championship title.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 23, 2017
The Dodgers will likely have first seed and will face the winner of the wild card series. This will give the Dodgers players a nice long and needed rest to be fresh and ready for the elite opposition that comes with the playoffs. Now that the Dodgers have clinched, it will be interesting to see how Dave Roberts handles the lineup and rotation. Will he choose to have an extended rest and start sitting some starters, or will he make a hard push to protect the home field advantage edge? The Dodgers have been so good at home this year that I can only imagine that the Dodgers’ management will want home field advantage. They are 52-23 at home and 45-33 on the road.
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