LOS ANGELES Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani. What will his role in the post-season be ?(AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

By Pete Zarustica
Orange County Tribune

The 2026 regular season for Major League Baseball is done. The Los Angeles Angels ended the year with a worst-ever 62-100 record, while the Los Angeles Dodgers won 100 games and are the National League West champions.

They will head into the playoffs starting on Saturday, Oct. 3 against the winner of the best two-of-three National League wild card series between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.

By the way, the Dodgers have won 100 games nine times, with 106 victories in 2019 and 2021. Both times they lost in the National League Championship Series, though.

Those aren’t the “best” seasons-ever, though. The Dodgers posted a 43-17 record (.717 winning percentage) in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. They won the World Series that year, too.

REID DETMERS has been the top Angel starter in 2026 (File photo).

As for the Angels, a decision is anticipated soon on the status of manager Kurt Suzuki. Typically the Angels have fired their “field general” after a poor finish, but there’s new ownership so it’s anyone’s guess what happens next.

There’s a lot to fix for 2027. The Angels lost a lot of one-run and extra-innings games. In the final week, the bullpen wasted a 7-2 lead and lost a game 9-7.

The batter’s box was a sad place, too. They led the American League in strikeouts and put together several disheartening losing streaks.

There’s some hope. Reid Detmers pitched fairly well, posting a 7-8 record and a 3.36 ERA. Even more impressive is his work in his last dozen starts during which he had a sterling 2.05 ERA.
And don’t forget Wade Meckler, who – in 93 games – batted .292 with three home runs and 27 RBIs.

That’s probably not enough to make a winning record in 2027, but stranger things have happened … when you have a new billionaire owner.