In 2021, the Dodgers battled for the NL West division title down to the final day of the season, losing out by one game to the Giants. They beat the Cardinals in the Wild Card game and defeated the Giants in the NLDS but then ran out of gas in the NLCS against the Braves, who eventually won the World Series.
In 2022, Los Angeles took the exact opposite approach, clinching the division with more than three weeks left in the season and locking down a five-day break after the regular season because if the first-round bye that was new to this year’s playoff structure.