Dodgers announce probable Wild Card Game 1 starter (and surprising roster exclusion)

The Dodgers ended their regular season on a high note with a sweep of the Mariners and one last win for Clayton Kershaw, which will hopefully be able to carry them nicely into the best-of-three Wild Card series against the Reds, who just barely crept into the postseason off the back of an historic Mets collapse.

The National League side of the bracket is dominated by the NL Central, but the Reds are by far the least fearsome squad from that division the Dodgers could've gotten matched up against. They finished their regular season barely above .500 and dropped their last game to the Brewers. Cincinnati was also on a franchise-best 43-series sweepless streak that was snapped by none other than the Dodgers in late August.

Still, there are reasons to not only be concerned about how the Dodgers might botch the series all by themselves, but how the Reds might scrap together a winning series to move on to the NLDS for the first time since 2012.

Nonetheless, the Dodgers are putting their best foot forward. Dave Roberts said that Blake Snell is a "good bet" to start Game 1.

Dodgers likely to turn to Blake Snell in Wild Card Game 1, leave Clayton Kershaw off roster

Yoshinobu Yamamoto might've seemed like the more obvious choice as a Game 1 starter, but the Reds are hitting .229 with a .653 OPS against lefties this season, and Snell is the only lefty in the Dodgers' rotation apart from Kershaw, who Roberts also confirmed will be left off of the Wild Card roster.

Kershaw pitched 5 1/3 masterful innings against the Mariners on Sunday a threw 94 pitches, so it stands to reason that he would be unavailable through a three-game set. There may not be room for him in the rotation if the Dodgers reach the NLDS, NLCS and/or World Series either, but the Dodgers have left open the possibility of using him in relief (and already primed him for that role with his first relief appearance since 2019 on Sept. 24 against the Diamondbacks).

Hunter Greene is the Dodgers' likeliest opponent in Game 1; he's had an admirable but injury-shortened 2025 season, but he pitched just five innings with five runs runs (three earned) the last time he saw the Dodgers in August.

Wild Card Game 1 kicks off on Sept. 30 at 6:08 PM PST on ESPN. It's go time, folks.