The Dodgers have two things going against them. One is the phenomenon of Wild Card teams beating teams with a first-round bye. The second thing is the Padres have had the Dodgers’ number this year.

Sure, the Dodgers had the best record in Major League Baseball. Sure, the Dodgers have names like Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, and Hernandez at the top of the lineup. Sure, Ohtani put together an amazing final three weeks of the season.

But, often, good opposing pitchers figured out a way to neutralize those four. The Padres had some of those opposing pitchers and won the season series. The Dodgers will have to change their approach. Two guys who could lead the Dodgers: Kike Hernandez and Chris Taylor. Kike comes up clutch against lefties and Taylor finished the season hitting .202. Why is that important? He was hitting 0.99 at one point during the year.

A lot of the Dodger wins came with a rotation that was patchwork as Dodger after Dodger went on the Injured List. Manager Dave Roberts should be considered for manager of the year as the team continued to win despite a rash of injuries. Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked good to start the year and then got hurt. In three September starts after coming off the IL, but he hasn’t thrown more than five innings. Jack Flaherty left the Tigers even though he had a 2.95 ERA and gave Los Angeles a much-needed starter. He had one dud of a start in his final five, but he gave them enough to get to the bullpen. Landon Knack gives them four or five innings and then…the bullpen. Gavin Stone had been the emergency fill-in guy before he got hurt. That came two weeks after Tyler Glasnow went down. Clayton Kershaw made an appearance for a couple of weeks and then he disappeared. Walker Buehler came back from Tommy John surgery but has been wildly inconsistent. Bobby Miller -whom Dodger announcers talk about as if he’s the second coming of Orel Hersheiser- has been awful. The ball goes 98, but he doesn’t know where it’s going.

The bullpen has been the leader of this club, especially during times that Shohei Ohtani was slumping (yes, it did happen) or Mookie Betts was hurt, or Will Smith was struggling, or Freddie Freeman was out.

For San Diego, Manny Machado was solid the second half. The Padres don’t have the names or the production the Dodgers do, but Jackson Merrill, Jurickson Profar, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, and Xander Bogaerts all can match anything the Dodgers can muster. No, they aren’t as good as a group, but timing is everything and the Padres timing was just plain better all year round against L.A. Getting the batting title winner in Luis Arraez sets the table for any of those guys to drive him in.

On the mound, Dylan Cease led the club in wins. Michael King’s stuff is so good, he could vie for Cy Young Awards for the next seven-to-eight years. Joe Musgrove gives them a third starter who finished the year strong.

On paper, the Dodgers should win. During the year, the Dodgers struggled against good teams. This is a good team.

Prediction: Padres in five.