Bring On The Champs: Phillies vs. Dodgers Series Preview, May 29-31

The Phillies are heading to the City of Angels to face off against the defending World Series Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, for an NLDS rematch from last season. The Phillies are heading into this series with momentum after sweeping the division rivals of the Dodgers, the San Diego Padres.

In the first half of 4 consecutive series that will be played against teams already above the 30-win mark, the Phillies lost 2 of 3 against the Cleveland Guardians and swept the Padres. They now begin the latter half on Friday night against the Dodgers, afterwards heading home to welcome the Padres to complete the 4-series set.

The Dodgers are easily the most dangerous team the Phillies have faced so far this season, and more likely than not, will be the most dangerous team they play all year. The Phillies enter the series still with several questions, and this is a playoff-caliber test to see where the Phillies stand.

Golden Offseason

The goal for the Dodgers this past offseason was a very simple one: continue building and adding to a championship roster. The Dodgers did that very successfully. Most of the moves made were just to maintain a back-to-back defending World Series Championship roster. Those came through the resigning of several talents such as reliever Evan Philips, utility men Miguel Rojas and Kike Hernandez. All three players were valuable contributors to the Dodgers’ World Series run and quickly returned.

The Dodgers not only brought back players who were already valuable, but also brought in a ton of high-end talent. Former New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz signed a 3-year $69 million deal. The bigger move made, however, and the biggest of the whole MLB off-season, was bringing in the top free agent on the market, All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker, on a 4-year $240 million contract.

Don’t Fear The Monster

The gap between the Phillies and Dodgers is not as large as it might seem. While yes, there are more stars on the Dodgers than there are on the Phillies, that does not mean this Dodgers team is not beatable.

A perfect example of why the Phillies should have confidence in playing the Dodgers, a team that the Phillies have actually had success against. Last season, the Phillies won both series against the Dodgers, holding a record of 4-2 against LA in 2025. While the 2025 season ended at the hands of the Dodgers, that series had 4 consistently close games. So much so that if one or two things in each game went differently, it was very likely the Phillies were the team leaving to play in the NLCS.

While that does not change the fact that the Phillies did lose the series, the regular season record from last season, as well as the battle that was the NLDS, should show that the Phillies can very well beat the Dodgers.

Offense Needs To Take Advantage

The most important factor in whether the Phillies can perform against the Dodgers this series will be how well the offense can perform. It is no surprise that the hot streak the Phillies went on right after Don Mattingly was brought in as interim manager was fueled in a big way by how well the offense was performing. It is also no surprise that the poor performance by the offense was the reason the Phillies struggled so much in their most recent home stand. The team has flaws in its lineup, but that does not mean they’re unable to perform and win despite them.

A luxury in San Diego was that the pitching continued to perform as dominantly as they did in the most recent home stand, and as they have in the whole month of May. The offense, though, still didn’t take enough advantage of the opportunities the Phillies pitching staff was giving them and actually produced runs.

The Phillies don’t need to put up 10+ runs each game in this LA series. What is needed is that the offense has to take advantage of good pitching and perform against a good Dodgers staff. The Padres staff is arguably better this year than the Dodgers’, so if the Phils can do enough against San Diego, then they should be able to, and need to, against LA.

Game Times and Broadcasts

Friday, May 29th, 10:15 p.m. ET, Apple TV+, 94.1 WIP

Saturday, May 30th, 10:10 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 94.1 WIP

Sunday, May 31st, 4:10 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 94.1 WIP

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Zack Wheeler (RHP, 4-0, 1.67 ERA) vs. Justin Wrobleski (LHP, 6-2, 3.07 ERA)

Game 2: Jesus Luzardo (LHP, 4-4, 4.38 ERA) vs. Roki Sasaki (RHP, 3-3, 4.93 ERA)

Game 3: Andrew Painter (RHP, 1-5, 5.40 ERA) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (RHP, 4-4, 3.09 ERA)

By the Numbers

• Record
• Phillies: 29-27
• Dodgers: 36-20

• Run Differential
• Phillies: -17
• Dodgers: +120

• Runs Per Game
• Phillies: 3.98
• Dodgers: 5.32

• Runs Allowed Per Game
• Phillies: 4.29
• Dodgers: 3.18

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