Dodgers fans shouldn't underestimate Reds in Wild Card series for this huge reason

The Cincinnati Reds — the Dodgers' opponent in this week's Wild Card series — have the worst regular season record of any team in the playoffs this year. They just barely squeezed in with a little help from the Marlins, who beat the Mets in the final game of the year to keep them from the postseason, and have the lowest run differential of any October-bound NL team, by far, at 35. The Dodgers have the biggest payroll in baseball and the Reds have the 12th-lowest, representing the largest disparity between any two teams facing each other in this first round.

All of that makes this very much a David vs. Goliath situation — but because we all know how that worked out for the Goliath, it would be wrong to underestimate Cincinnati going into this series.

The Dodgers themselves aren't. Dave Roberts said of Cincinnati, "They can pitch and they're athletic. They've got a great manager who's won a couple championships. We've got to be ready."

Freddie Freeman singled out the Reds' All-Star and confirmed Game 1 starter Hunter Greene, who leads a fearsome Cincinnati rotation that could give the Dodgers a lot of grief.

Reds' rotation shouldn't be underestimated in NL Wild Card series vs. Dodgers

Greene has struggled with some health issues this year, but he has a 2.81 ERA in eight starts since last August. Following Greene will probably be Nick Lodolo, who posted a solid 3.33 ERA in the regular season and threw a complete game shutout against the Nationals in July. Greene has a 11.03 K/9 rate vs a 2.17 BB/9.

For LA's part, the Dodgers' rotation might be the most dependable part of their roster. Blake Snell has been confirmed as the Game 1 starter, followed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 and Shohei Ohtani in reserve for Game 3. Even if the Dodgers had gone with Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, or Emmet Sheehan in that last spot, LA would still be in decent shape.

But the Dodgers have struggled all season to give Yamamoto, and more recently Ohtani, run support of any kind. If they can't get around Greene and Lodolo and the Dodgers' bullpen falls apart in late innings, they won't have a chance at winning this series.

The fact that the Dodgers are the only team to sweep the Reds all year is reassuring, but they know they can't rest on those laurels too much. It's going to be up to the offense to figure out the Reds' starters quickly. Falling behind after Game 1 could be a death knell, especially if Greene stymies the Dodgers' offense on Tuesday.