Padres Manager Hopes to Face Dodgers Again in Playoffs

San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt (8) talks with Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) as play is about to resume after benches cleared in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 19. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

With even the New York-based media anointing the Padres-Dodgers rivalry the "best rivalry in baseball," players and managers on both sides can expect plenty of questions about the other team between now and the end of the regular season — and perhaps the postseason, too.

Take, for example, Mike Shildt's latest appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.

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"When you think about October, and getting there, and being there in the postseason, would you ejnoy seeing the Dodgers again in October?" Shildt was asked Monday.

He chuckled.

"Absolutely. Yeah. That'd be great. We love that. That'd be fun," Shildt said. "That'd be really cool. You ask me in that way, of course we'd love to play them again in the playoffs, ideally for the National League pennant. But there's a lot of other teams we've got to think about, and prepare for as well clearly."

Will we see a #Padres vs. #Dodgers postseason rematch?#ForTheFaithful | @Padres
🔗 https://t.co/6YbqEWFvEp pic.twitter.com/NsbuO82Cp8

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) August 25, 2025

If the Padres visit Los Angeles again in 2025, it will be in October. The teams played their last scheduled series in San Diego over the weekend, with the Dodgers winning the series finale Sunday to avoid a sweep.

That temporarily left the two teams tied atop the National League West standings, although the Dodgers now have a one-game lead.

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The Padres went 4-9 in their head-to-head meetings with the Dodgers this season, which perhaps suggests that they might find a more favorable matchup between now and October.

Perhaps the two teams are more closely matched than their head-to-head record suggests. The Dodgers were outscoring the Padres by just a run in their first 12 meetings before Sunday's 8-2 victory.

Los Angeles racked up most of its wins against San Diego before the Padres went on a spree at the trade deadline to net Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O'Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Nestor Cortes and Freddy Fermin in four separate trades with the A's, Orioles, Brewers and Royals.

Regardless, the old cliché about "throwing the regular season out the window" ought to apply considering the two teams' postseason history.

In 2022, the Padres dispatched the heavily favored Dodgers in a three-game NL Division Series. In 2024, the Padres were leading the Dodgers two games to one in their best-of-five NLDS. The Dodgers stunningly won Game 4 in San Diego, before blanking the Padres 2-0 at Dodger Stadium to claim the series victory en route to a championship.

Whichever team does not win the NL West this season must advance through a best-of-three Wild Card round before moving on to the NLDS, assuming both teams clinch a playoff berth at all. Plenty can happen between now and October, but you can't blame Shildt for wanting to renew the rivalry at any time this year.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.