The Dodgers reached the point where reaching the post-season three years in a row isn’t enough:

Only there’s little danger of being spoiled by all this success because the last two division titles did not lead to the baseball promised land. They came up short.

This team was built to win 11 more games. It will ultimately be judged not by capturing a third consecutive division title, but what it does once it begins the postseason.

Division titles should not be taken for granted. Through the regular season, as I read articles about the Dodgers, I always got the feeling that the writers didn’t think the team was good enough. The underlying narrative was that they would win the division, but they have too many flaws to go deep in the playoffs.

Of course, the odds are against any of the eight teams that make it to the league division series. At that level, they are all pretty evenly matched. That’s why we see wild cards winning championships so often. The Dodgers have a 1 in 8 chance just like the others. Maybe this year they get lucky and nobody hits Clayton Kershaw. Maybe they get the lucky bounce in a bases loaded situation. Maybe all the line drives by their opponents are hit right at a fielder. Any team that is good enough to make the playoffs is good enough to win.