The odds say the Phillies are underdogs against the Dodgers in the NLDS. The odds are correct.

You can say one thing about the Phillies’ chances of another World Series.

If they get there, they will have earned it.

The odds say the Phillies will enter this weekend as the underdogs, if ever so slightly (Dodgers -112, Phillies -104, per FanDuel).

The odds are correct.

» READ MORE: Phillies vs. Dodgers: NLDS schedule, pitching matchups, ticket info, how to watch, and more

The Dodgers are the team to beat in this year’s National League playoff field. They are the demon that must be slayed. Anybody who claims otherwise is giving themselves away.

Don’t let their win total fool you. Look at the names. Look at the track record. Look at the trajectory.

Can the Phillies beat them? Absolutely. Should we expect them to do so? Absolutely not.

This is a good thing. The Phillies were supposed to beat the Diamondbacks in the 2023 NLCS. They were supposed to beat the Mets last year. They weren’t supposed to beat the Braves in 2022 or 2023. There is a reason we still cling to the belief that this team has something special in spite of what it has shown in its last nine postseason games. We’ve seen it before. Back when the chips were down.

We’ve seen it all along, haven’t we? Answer that question honestly and then challenge yourself to overcome your reluctance to my premise. How many times over the past four years have you sworn that this team was headed nowhere? How many times have you sworn it this season?

On their journey to the No. 2 seed and home field advantage in the NLDS, how many times have the Phillies proved us wrong?

Pretend the month is March. A few weeks before opening day. Pretend I tell you the following things:

You’d probably conclude that, man, Jordan Romano and Joe Ross must’ve hit it big. Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott must have crushed it. Dave Dombrowski must’ve traded for Jhoan Duran at the trade deadline. On that last point, you’d be right.

At their best, the Phillies have been a team that is bigger than the sum of its parts. That’s who they will need to be starting Saturday.

A quick list of reasons, all wearing Dodger blue:

Because the Dodgers took care of the Reds in two games, they’ll have their quasi-ace on the mound for Game 1. Ohtani is Exhibit A for why you can’t put too much stock in the fact that the Dodgers were technically a wild-card team. The modern day Babe Ruth was nearly halfway through another MVP campaign before he reminded everybody that he could also pitch. Even then, he pitched sparingly, averaging two innings of work every five days from mid-June to mid-September. But if you are only as good as your last outing, then consider the fact that Ohtani’s last was 91 pitches in six scoreless innings.

He will enter the postseason riding a stretch of 14⅔ scoreless with 18 strikeouts and 10 baserunners, only one of whom reached via extra bases. Five of those innings came against the Phillies. Ohtani retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced.

Betts was one of the primary drivers of the Dodgers’ uneven regular season. His overall numbers are astoundingly ordinary. All that matters is who he is now. He had a .903 OPS in his last 37 regular season games.

The bigger question is catcher Will Smith, who was relegated to the bench in the Dodgers’ sweep of the Reds. If he has recovered from his fractured hand to rejoin the starting lineup, the Dodgers will have plenty of balance to counter the Phillies’ lefty-heavy rotation. Along with Betts and Smith, outfielders Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández give the Dodgers four above-average right-handed hitters to break up lefties Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy. While Muncy is near-worthless against lefties (.564 OPS), Ohtani (.898) and Freeman (.855) can more than hold their own.

Harper and Kyle Schwarber are a combined 3-for-23 with 12 strikeouts in their careers against the Dodgers’ presumptive Game 2 starter. Castellanos is 1-for-19 with eight strikeouts. Kepler is 0-for-11 with five strikeouts. The last time the Phillies faced Snell — in a 5-0 loss on Sept. 17 — they stuck out 12 times and reached base four times in seven scoreless innings.

The Phillies haven’t fared much better against Game 3 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who held them scoreless in six innings back in April.

» READ MORE: How far will the Phillies go in the playoffs? Outs 13-21 will likely determine their fate.

Long story short, the Dodgers are the Dodgers, whatever their record says. The three starters slated to face the Phillies have combined to hold them scoreless for 18 innings in each of their last outings against them.

But, then, this is the postseason. This is a Phillies team that has a history of rising to the occasion. They will have the first two games at home, with a couple of starting pitchers you’d trust above most. But make no mistake. They are the underdog. If ever so slightly.