After their Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City Comets, won its first national title, the Los Angeles Dodgers are preparing to defend their World Series title while pursuing a third straight championship.

After clinching the second seed and earning a NLDS bye, the Dodgers are awaiting the winners of the National League Wild Card series, including the Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs vs. San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers will host the highest remaining seed among the four teams.

Over the past couple of seasons, Los Angeles has been so dominant that it didn't really matter who they faced in the postseason.

However, in a year when they haven't been as consistent against some of the league's best teams, the Dodgers may want to avoid a couple of teams more than others.

Among the four wild-card teams in the NL, the Phillies should be considered the most "favorable" opponent for the defending champions.

While the Phillies are a solid team with the offensive firepower to compete with the league's better teams, the Dodgers can easily neutralize their lineup enough to win a series.

Los Angeles also held the Phillies to fewer than three runs in six games this season and went 4-2 against Philadelphia.

The Padres are the other team the Dodgers could have an easier time against than the Braves or Cubs.

This isn't a slight against the Padres, because playoff matchups against division rivals are never easy. They are the teams you'll face most often during the regular season, so you become very familiar with them.

However, the Dodgers managed to squeeze out eight wins in 13 meetings against San Diego, and two of those losses came at the end of the season, when the Padres were more desperate as they sought to clinch a Wild Card spot and the Dodgers were already the second seed.

While the Braves are Los Angeles's most likely opponent, they are the least favorable matchup for the champions.

Atlanta was one of the few teams to sweep the Dodgers in a regular-season series, losing only one of six games against Los Angeles. The team allowed a maximum of five runs in any game and scored six or more in multiple games.

Whenever a team is swept by an opponent in the regular season, it's not a crazy assumption that they would like to avoid that opponent in the postseason, if possible.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers have a 50 percent chance of facing a team that swept them. The Cubs also had the Dodgers' number throughout the season, holding a 4-2 record over them, including a three-game sweep in their final series.

Not to mention, the Cubs also have the likely NL MVP, Pete Crow-Armstrong, on their team, who has been highly successful against them in regular-season matchups.

Nonetheless, postseason results are the only ones that matter, and with the Dodgers' championship pedigree, it doesn't matter how many games they've lost so far; they'll likely be in it until the very end.