The Dodgers Have One Big Problem Heading Into the NLDS

Major League Baseball's postseason got underway with Wild Card games Tuesday night, and the action reminded us of at least one thing.

This is still the Los Angeles Dodgers' tournament to lose.

The Dodgers didn't even play because they qualified for the postseason with the second-best record in the National League, and have a bye to the next round. So they can just sit back and wait for the NLDS to start Saturday.

So what are the Dodgers worried about right now? Not much, except for the time of the first pitch.

"I would probably prefer to play at night," Roberts told reporters assembled for a video conference Tuesday.

This is the life.

"It's going to be a hot week, and to play at night would certainly be more beneficial," Roberts added.

Oh. Well, that's sensible. Roberts' preference comes from the 100-ish degree temperatures expected in L.A. over the weekend. A 1 p.m. start time on the West Coast is possible, depending on how the Wild Card series shakes out.

Other managers, like Don Mattingly of the Philadelphia Phillies, have urgent problems -- like keeping their season alive after dropping the opener of the NL Wild Card round. Mattingly made the proactive move to use closer Jhoan Duran in the seventh and eighth innings Tuesday. It was technically the correct play, and technically is typically the best kind of correct -- but it still backfired when Austin Riley hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth.

The Dodgers are set to play the winner of the Philly-Atlanta series. Roberts said the Dodgers don't care which team they get, because why would they say it out loud? They probably prefer to avoid Philly after having trouble with them in the NLDS a year ago. The Dodgers won in four games, but even the winning outcomes were in doubt.

Still, it's the other NL series that dictates the start time of the next round. If the San Diego Padres advance beyond the Chicago Cubs, and they're ahead after trampling them 8-0 in game one, the Dodgers would have to play the Phillies or Braves in the midday heat. The Padres have a look right now, if you squint hard, of a team that could win the World Series. But the Dodgers don't have to worry about them yet, because the Padres would play the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS.

This is where the Dodgers' concerns lie right now: the weather.

Shohei Ohtani missed a bunch of games in September with knee soreness, going 6-for-30 with one extra-base hit (a double) in the final month of the regular season. Already on the shelf for pitching and exclusively a DH, Ohtani's potential contribution in the postseason had been in doubt. But he's been ramping up in batting practice and other workouts, and the Dodgers sound confident he'll be ready to rake.

Just stay hydrated when the heat comes, Shohei.

The other big Dodgers caveat right now is the state of the pitching. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are expected to start. The question marks there -- Snell and Glasnow -- have been trending upward.

The bullpen remains a possible point of vulnerability. What are they going to get from Edwin Diaz? He's been solid in September but wasn't blowing anyone away like Timmy Trumpet before. Roki Sasaki has looked OK this month -- albeit in just three appearances since returning from a blister injury. They'll also need big moments from left-hander Justin Wrobleski, whose strong early season got sidetracked by forearm soreness in August.

Compared to other teams, these are good problems to have. Dodgers problems.

Until they say otherwise, we're still living in a Dodgers world.