3 lessons the San Diego Padres can steal from the Dodgers’ postseason success

After back-to-back World Series titles, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a few lessons they can teach the San Diego Padres about what it really takes to win in October.

It's not that San Diego hasn't had opportunities. The Padres have consistently been falling short in the playoffs in recent years. What advice might the Dodgers have for San Diego? Here are three lessons.

3 ways the Dodgers just showed the Padres a better postseason blueprint

One of the stars needs to step up

In order to sustain a long-term playoff run, at least one of the star players on your team needs to step up and play at a high level.

This one might seem obvious, but San Diego has consistently seen its stars underperform in the postseason. Contrast that with the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani started 4 games, winning two, while posting the fifth-highest OPS of any player in the playoffs. He hit eight home runs and drove in 14, averaging nearly a home run per every two games. The Padres need a star to carry them like that.

Bullpen depth doesn't matter as much we think?

The Padres had the best bullpen in baseball in 2025, while the Dodgers had one of the worst. The Dodgers' pen was so bad that some analysts counted them out of World Series contention entirely. Yet it was the Padres who were sent home early and the Dodgers who won the title.

The truth is, having a deep bullpen really does not matter as much in the playoffs, when only the best four or five relievers are ever going to see action (unless the game goes 18 innings!). The Dodgers successfully navigated a difficult Phillies and Blue Jays lineup, and when they needed to, they used starter Roki Sasaki in the closer role.

More important than bullpen depth is flexibility and creativity when managing a pitching staff, which Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts did to perfection.

Find clutch roleplayers

The Padres have struggled in recent years to find productive role-players. In 2025, guys like Jose Iglesias and Jayson Heyward turned out to be mostly ineffective. The Dodgers' role players might not have been good, but they delivered when it counted.

Just look at Miguel Rojas. The infielder had just one hit in the World Series before he tied up Game 7 in the ninth inning with a solo home run. Rojas is not good, but he is clutch, and in the playoffs, clutch matters.