Dodgers bold predictions for 2025 NL Wild Card Series vs. Reds

Blake Snell continues to dominate the Reds

When it comes to the Reds, few pitchers have been as consistently effective against them as Dodgers Game 1 starter Blake Snell.

A long-time NL West stalwart who has now played for every team minus the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks, but in the two games he’s faced against Cincinnati, Snell has been borderline dominant.

In his debut against Cincinnati back in 2023, Snell pitched some pretty darn good baseball, recording seven strikeouts over six innings, allowing eight hits and a home run, but only three runs on 101 pitches as a member of the San Diego Padres. Snell finished out the game with an ERA of 4.50 but ultimately secured the win thanks to eight runs from his team’s offense.

And in Game 2? Well, Snell retired all 27 batters in his only complete game, recording 11 strikeouts, three walks, and no hits in the signature game of his San Francisco Giants career.

In 2025, Snell didn’t appear in any of the Dodgers’ six games against the Reds. But with a chance to prove why Los Angeles made him one of the highest-paid pitchers in the game, it’s safe to assume the two-time Cy Young winner will come correct to Chavez Ravine, knowing that he has a chance to give his team a pivotal victory in Game 1 and maintain their momentum heading into October.

The Dodgers keep having the Reds’ number

In 2025, the Dodgers have had the Reds’ number.

Facing off against each other six times in a home and away series, Los Angeles outscored Cincinnati by a combined 30-15 on the way to a regular season record of 5-1. Despite Cincinnati being known for its pitch prowess, Roberts’ squad was able to put up 53 hits, bash seven home runs, and ultimately outgun their opponents in five of their six games, including the final three in August on the way to a much-needed streak.

Now granted, the Reds are no slouches either. After being effectively left for dead in the middle of the summer, Cincinnati rallied back in a major way, winning 14 of its last 25 games as teams like the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and Arizona Diamondbacks fell apart down the stretch. They have a pair of stars in Elly De La Cruz and Andrew Abbott, who made the All-Star game in 2025, and a local Game 1 starter in Hunter Greene, who went to high school at Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks before eventually being drafted into the league second overall in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft. 

But the Dodgers have a pretty darn good roster, too, with the contracts of LA’s top-five highest-paid players making more than the entire Reds roster. With all three games taking place in Los Angeles, it’s safe to assume that level of superstar firepower will show up in the Wild Card Round.

Shohei Ohtani doesn’t have to pitch in Game 3

After recapturing his pitching prowess following a year away from the mound in 2024, Ohtani finds himself in a unique spot heading into the playoffs.

While he may not be the team’s third-best pitcher on paper, with Tyler Glasnow likely deserving that nod for his high-end play and impressive stuff down the stretch, because of MLB’s pitching rules, dubbed the “Ohtani Rule” for its singular implications, if Roberts wants to use his two-way MVP on the mound, it has to be as a starter.

As a result, Ohtani is scheduled to be the Dodgers’ starter in Game 3 against the Reds, using his recent success on the mound to hopefully take Cincinnati deep into the middle innings before a pitcher like Emmatt Sheean takes over for him like he has so many times during the regular season.

Or will he?

With Snell set to start in Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting the ball in Game 2, the Dodgers will unquestionably have the pitching edge in the Wild Card Round. If that dynamic duo can get things done on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Ohtani won’t need to pitch at all on Thursday, instead getting the nod for Game 1 against the Phillies in the National League Divisional Round.