5 biggest National League threats to Dodgers' chances of reaching World Series

Regardless of anyone's opinion on the Los Angeles Dodgers, they are widely considered the objective winners of the offseason. Landing Shohei Ohtani alone would likely have warranted that title, so when you throw in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Teoscar Hernández, it’s really hard to contest that title. 

By no means does this guarantee anything for the Dodgers. They consistently have high expectations and, outside of the 2020 World Series they won, have repeatedly fallen short despite having one of the most talented rosters every year. But expectations for this season are higher than they have ever been. If the Dodgers don’t win the World Series, the baseball world will dub it a failed season. The Dodgers will have to first make it out of the National League before setting their eyes on the World Series, which is a difficult task by itself. 

What 5 teams pose the biggest threat to the Dodgers in the NL?

5. San Diego Padres

The National League is very top-heavy, with the Dodgers and a couple of other teams that will be mentioned later. The San Diego Padres are coming off a year where they were one of the most disappointing teams in MLB. Instead of fighting for an NL West title, they were fighting to stay above .500.

It may come as a shock to some when they see the Padres on this list. That’s fair; they did lose Juan Soto, Josh Hader, and Blake Snell, but this roster is still very talented, and they didn’t lose Soto for nothing. They were able to get pitching prospects to help their future, as well as Michael King to bolster their current rotation. 

The first four batters in the Padres lineup are projected to be Ha-Seong Kim, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Manny Machado. That’s a scary bunch to face, regardless of who comes after them. With King joining Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, their rotation is also still nothing to scoff at.

The Dodgers went 9-4 against the Padres last season, but these teams don’t like each other, which gives the Padres that extra edge and makes their matchups always fun to watch. Don't count San Diego out just yet. Their chemistry might even be improved year-over-year.