Braves legend John Smoltz makes allegiance clear as Padres and Dodgers set to clash for NL West throne

With around 40 games left in the 2025 season, one of the most contentious races involves bitter rivals, the San Diego Padres and the LA Dodgers, wrestling for the NL West title. The two juggernauts are set to tussle in a three-game series starting on Friday night.

Given that it could be a preview of the NLCS, many experts and analysts have chimed in on who they think will come away victorious. Braves legend John Smoltz feels the Dodgers have the edge.

"I'm still going to lean towards the Dodgers because of what they have and what they've been through," said Smoltz in an interview with Justin Verlander on the Flippin' Bats podcast. (11:09-11:13)

The Braves great added that a team of the caliber of the Dodgers could easily flick a switch and find form if given the chance.

"They're not fazed by anything. But don't let a team start getting a lot of confidence and start thinking they're back in it."

The Padres (69-52) are a game up on the reigning champions after winning eight of their last 10, including a five-game win streak. This sudden surge, along with the Dodgers' fumble at the hands of the Angels, paved the way for San Diego to top the division.

LA Dodgers fall to LA Angels in Anaheim

In a surprising twist of events, the Dodgers were swept by the Angels in a three-game series.

The first contest on Monday night ended in a comfortable 7-4 win for the Angels. This was followed by a memorable 7-6 win in the second game thanks to a walk-off single by Jo Adell in the 10th as Taylor Ward scored.

The Halos edged out their Freeway Series rivals 6-5 in the closer. Shohei Ohtani's return to the mound in Angel Stadium did not go to plan as his former team scored four past him, with Logan O'Hoppe hitting the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth,

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Daniel Santiago