Jul 29, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer (30) is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

Former Padre Star Says Dodgers or Padres Will Win 2025 World Series

Originally posted on San Diego Padres on SI
By Patrick Warren | Last updated Sep 29, 2025 6:30 PM ET

Whether it's the Padres or the Dodgers, the World Series champion is coming out of Southern California, at least according to former MLB first baseman Eric Hosmer, who spent five seasons with San Diego.

"To me, the story is the same as last year: it comes down to the Dodgers and the Padres. To me, the winner of that series is going to be the World Series champs," Hosmer said on Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney.

Hosmer's confidence in the Padres stems from the strength of the team's relief pitching staff, which holds the lowest team bullpen ERA in the major leagues at 3.06. Specifically, Hosmer praised the Padres' acquisition of reliever Mason Miller, who holds a 0.77 ERA through 22 games with the Padres.

"It comes down to the Dodgers and the Padres, to me the winner of that series is going to be the World Series champs."@Buster_ESPN | @TheRealHos305 pic.twitter.com/80eBTpTwyD
— ESPN Podcasts (@espnpodcasts) September 27, 2025

"The Padres are really the only team that can hold a lead late," Hosmer said. "The Padres, what they did at the deadline with Mason Miller. I mean, you knew Mason Miller was throwing 103, 104 miles per hour, you put him in Petco Park in that atmosphere and you know you're going to get a couple more RPM's on that fastball and some miles an hour as well."

The Dodger bullpen, however, couldn't be further from the Padres in terms of reliability. The New York Yankees are the only other playoff team with a worse team bullpen ERA than the Dodgers' 4.27. However, on the front end of games, Hosmer highlighted the dominant roster of starting pitchers that the Dodgers claim.

"The Dodgers, the starting staff they're going to roll out there. [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto has been unhittable this year. [Blake] Snell in the second half, he always catches fire and he looks like he's that second-half Snell, and then [Shohei] Ohtani. You can get them late, but I still think the story is going to be that the winner of that series is the best team in my eyes," Hosmer said.

While Hosmer very well might prove to be correct, "that series" is far from a guarantee. Both the Dodgers and the Padres must get through tedious Wild Card matchups against the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs, respectively, if they are to meet in what would be an epic NL Division Championship duel.