The defending champs blitzed their way through the NL side of the playoff bracket, winning nine of their 10 games against the Reds, Phillies and Brewers. Those three clubs combined for just 28 runs against Los Angeles, an average of 2.8 runs per game. The Brewers, who ranked third in the Majors in runs scored behind the Yankees and Dodgers during the regular season, mustered just four runs — one in each game — in their NLCS sweep at the hands of L.A.
Much of that stingy run prevention has come from the club’s starting rotation, consisting of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani. Meanwhile, Roki Sasaki — typically a starter — has flourished as Los Angeles’ closer after moving to the bullpen when he returned from a right shoulder injury in September.
Granted, this wasn’t entirely unexpected. The rotation’s second-half surge, something Mike Petriello wrote about on Sept. 16, hinted at what was coming in October. Still, even with that momentum, the degree of dominance Los Angeles’ pitchers have displayed this postseason has been remarkable — and downright historic.
Below, you’ll find nine numbers that illustrate the extent of the Dodgers’ mound mastery in these playoffs.
5: Consecutive games in which the Dodgers have allowed no more than one run, an active streak covering their 2-1 win in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Phillies and all four games in their NLCS sweep over the Brewers. That ties them with the 1981 Dodgers and ’96 Braves for the longest streak within one postseason in MLB history.
56: Total hits allowed by Dodgers pitching this October, the second fewest by any team through its first 10 games in a single postseason, behind the 2017 Yankees (55).
.118: The Brewers’ batting average against the Dodgers in the NLCS, the lowest in a series of at least three games in postseason history. Milwaukee tallied just 14 hits in 119 at-bats over the four games and was held to one run in each game. Only five of those hits came with runners on base.
51: Combined outs recorded by Snell and Yamamoto against the Brewers in NLCS Games 1 and 2. Snell made history in Game 1, becoming the first pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts, one or no hits and no walks allowed in an outing of eight or more innings during the playoffs.
Yamamoto followed with a three-hit complete game in Game 2, becoming the first pitcher to go the distance in a playoff start since Justin Verlander did it for the Astros in the 2017 ALCS.
69.9%: The share of the Dodgers’ 92 total innings that have been thrown by starting pitchers in these playoffs, as Los Angeles has leaned on its rotation to overcome what was supposed to be its biggest weakness: a suspect relief corps.
It’s a percentage that flies in the face of the modern-day trend toward extreme bullpen reliance in October. In fact, just last year, the Dodgers won the World Series with their starters accounting for only 42.2% of their postseason innings. Starting pitchers have thrown 45.1% of the innings for the other 11 playoff teams this year.
Taking it one step further, 86.2% of the Dodgers innings in the 2025 postseason have been thrown by pitchers who were primarily starters during the regular season, with Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Clayton Kershaw all pitching in relief.
1.40: The collective ERA recorded by Dodgers starters over 64 1/3 innings in the 2025 postseason. That’s the third-lowest ERA by a team’s starting pitchers through the first 10 games of a single postseason, behind the 1981 Dodgers (1.26) and the ’73 Mets (1.38).
.408: The opponents’ OPS against Dodgers starting pitchers this postseason, the lowest allowed by a team’s starting pitchers through the first 10 games of a single postseason. Only two other clubs are even within 100 points — the 2023 Phillies (.439) and the 1981 Dodgers (.483).
39.4%: The whiff rate induced by Dodgers starters in these playoffs, which would be the highest mark (min. 400 swings) in a single postseason during the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
Dodgers starters have recorded at least 22 whiffs three times this postseason, including 23 apiece by Ohtani and Snell in Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS. With that, the Dodgers became the first team to have 22 or more swings and misses from their starting pitchers in consecutive games within a postseason under pitch tracking.
Overall, Los Angeles’ rotation has generated 176 swings and misses through 10 games, already the most in one postseason since 2020. That year, the Dodgers (233 whiffs) and the Rays (201 whiffs) played 18 and 20 postseason games, respectively.
19: The number of pitchers since earned runs became official in both leagues in 1913 to finish a postseason with at least 20 innings pitched and a sub-1.00 ERA. It last happened in 2017, when Masahiro Tanaka posted a 0.90 ERA over 20 innings for the Yankees.
Snell, who owns a 0.86 ERA in 21 innings this postseason, could join that list. But he’s not alone among 2025 Dodgers hurlers with a chance to do it — Glasnow (0.68 ERA in 13 1/3 IP) will also carry a sub-1.00 ERA into the Fall Classic.
99.2: Sasaki’s average four-seam fastball velocity this postseason, up from 96.1 mph in the regular season. The pitch has yielded just one hit in 16 at-bats this October. Add in a splitter generating a 50% whiff rate in the playoffs and Sasaki has been lights out closing games for L.A.
