Kurtenbach: Why the SF Giants should want to play the 106-win Dodgers in the NLDS

The Giants are going to open the playoffs Friday at Oracle Park.

They do not know who they are going to play.

San Francisco doesn’t mind the ambiguity — they’re enjoying their well-earned week of rest after a grind of a 162-game season.

But it’s impossible to avoid the obvious question: who would the Giants rather play on Friday, the Dodgers or Cardinals?

Manager Gabe Kapler and Giants players were, understandably cagey about that question over the last couple of days.

That said, I doubt that they have a true preference. The Giants pride themselves on being adaptive, not emotionally reactive, so setting expectations and desires for a Wild Card Game they cannot control is wasted energy.

So let me answer the question for them:

Bring on the Dodgers.

“It’ll add a whole new level to the rivalry,” Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford said Sunday of a possible Dodgers matchup.

That it would.

Stunningly, the Giants and Dodgers have never met in the postseason. That alone is justification for wanting to play baseball’s second-best team and the betting favorites (per MGM) to win the National League.

This is professional entertainment, after all.

But there’s much more in play.

Let me remind you that the Cardinals are stocked with world-class Giants killers.

Not only does St. Louis boast Nolan Arenado (900 career OPS vs. the Giants) they also have Paul Goldschmidt (an incredible .995 at Oracle Park). There’s also Adam Wainwright (2.89 ERA in 15 playoff total series) and Yadier Molina (.386 OBP at Oracle Park).

The rest of the team is pesky — matchup nightmares for Giants pitchers and hitters. Forgive me for repeating myself, but I’ve been saying for months that the Cardinals were seemingly built to beat the Giants. I don’t know how the Cardinals foresaw a possible playoff matchup with San Francisco, but it was as if they have been preparing for a series with them all year. Bizarre stuff.

Of course, St. Louis claimed four of six regular-season games this season, all coming in July. But since July, the Cardinals have gotten significantly better. In September, they won a truly absurd 17 games to clinch a spot in the winner-take-all Wild Card Game.

Perhaps it’s the color scheme, but all I see are red flags for the Giants when it comes to the Cardinals. This is the playoffs, gut feelings matter again.

Of course, there’s no good answer for the Giants. The alternative to the Cardinals — with all 90 of their wins in the regular season — is as Dodgers team that won 106.

The Giants and Dodgers played some incredible regular-season games this season, with the Giants winning 10 to the Dodgers’ nine. The margin between these teams was a Mike Tauchman home-run robbery.

But that familiarity is a good thing for the Giants should they face the Dodgers. San Francisco will have comprehensive scouting reports for both teams, but they simply know the Dodgers better. Not only did Kapler and Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi come from the Dodgers, but amid this incredible season, the Giants coaches and players have been forced to think about Los Angeles every day.

That’s what a great division race will do for you.

And not only did the Giants treat those regular-season games vs. Los Angeles like playoff contests, and they have picked up a few ticks and tricks along the way.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?

Of course, the Giants like how their starters — particularly their co-aces, Kevin Gausman and Logan Webb — match up with the Dodgers. Gausman had a 3.21 ERA in three starts against Los Angeles this season, Webb had a stellar 2.25 ERA in the same number of starts. And the Giants loved that they were able to beat up Dodgers’ ace Walker Buehler, too, pegging him for six runs on Sept. 5.

But the bigger point is that the Giants have no reason to fear anyone this postseason — especially not the big-money Dodgers. And don’t think that’s not part of the Dodgers’ equation for winning.

Yes, far too many teams concede games to Los Angeles before the series even starts. That could well happen in the postseason, too.

But not with the Giants, who bested L.A. over 19 and 162 games. They know they can beat these guys.

What’s another five?