The journey is just as important as the destination in the eyes of , which is why the veteran shortstop isn’t fretting over the fact that the Dodgers are in a dogfight for the National League West for the first time since 2021, the only year they’ve failed to win the division in the last 11 years. The Dodgers cruised to division titles the past two seasons, winning the NL West by 22 games in 2022 and 16 games in 2023, and what good did that do them? Thrust into high-intensity games for the first time in weeks, the 100-win were swept by 84-win in the NL Division Series last October, and their 111-team lost to 89-win in a four-game NLDS in 2022. Arizona went on to reach the World Series in 2023, and San Diego reached the NL Championship Series in 2022.
Rojas believes the stress and intensity of a six-week tussle with the Padres and for the division title and wild-card spots will make the Dodgers far more battle-tested for October than they were the past two seasons. “Those teams that have to win games down the stretch to get into the playoffs, like the Diamondbacks last year, they roll into the postseason knowing how to win and how to play in those do-or-die games,” Rojas said. “I think they have the advantage because the pressure is off, the anxiety is gone, because you’ve been playing games like that and winning them.
You have the confidence you can win them.” Sunday’s nail-biter of a over the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium had that pennant-race feel, th.