What's in store for LA in the final week of the regular season?

This story was excerpted from Sonja Chen’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Dodgers are six games away from the time of year they've been waiting for.

The postseason is just around the corner, giving the back-to-back World Series champions one final week of regular-season action before their title defense intensifies. The Dodgers have punched their postseason ticket for the 14th straight year and locked up the NL West for the 13th time in that span, but there is still plenty at stake in the coming days.

Here's what to watch for the Dodgers in the final week:

All about the bye

The Dodgers had to play through the NL Wild Card Series last year, but they are in a good position to bypass that round this season. They have a four-game lead over the Braves for the second-best record in the National League, which would secure a bye and home-field advantage during the NL Division Series.

The five days off that come with the bye may be even more important. The Dodgers are dealing with several late-season injuries, from those on the IL like Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages to others on the active roster like Freddie Freeman and Blake Snell. Having the bye week to rest and reset would help L.A. get as close to full strength as possible at this stage of the season.

A meaningful matchup

The Dodgers have gone 14-5 in September -- but they have not played a contending team since the end of last month, when they were swept by the Braves from Aug. 25-27. The surging Padres, who come to Dodger Stadium for a three-game series starting Tuesday, could be a good test.

Not only are the Padres a Wild Card team, but they're still playing to punch their postseason ticket and to improve their seeding. There's also a chance that this could be a playoff preview, if San Diego ends up as the third NL Wild Card team, on the same side of the bracket as L.A.

IL returns in play …

In the series against the Padres, the Dodgers are expecting to activate Pages (left hand fracture) on Tuesday, hopefully followed by Ohtani (right biceps, left knee) on Wednesday. Roki Sasaki (right middle finger blister) will be available out of the bullpen upon his return from the IL, a pivot from the original plan to keep him stretched out as rotation depth through the end of the regular season.

Neither of the three played in any rehab games. Sasaki has been able to face hitters, but neither Pages nor Ohtani will face live pitching before returning, which makes these final games especially interesting for them. They have limited at-bats to get back up to speed for the postseason, which will be a key development for an offense that has found its groove of late.

… and day-to-day ailments to monitor

Freeman (right patellar tendinitis) has not looked like himself at the plate all month, going 10-for-56 (.179) since Sept. 1 -- and there are signs his knee may have been affecting him for longer, as his slug has been diminished dating back to July. He is looking for a swing fix that will help him be effective through the postseason, but he has only a handful of games left to test things out against opposing pitching.

Snell (left groin tightness) is tentatively expected to start one of the final three games in San Francisco, although the Dodgers will have to feel confident that his condition won't regress. Snell is a key piece of the postseason rotation, and the depth is thin beyond the starting four of him, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Tyler Glasnow.

Roster spots for grabs

For the Dodgers on the bubble of the postseason roster, this is the last opportunity to make their case for inclusion. Top prospect Josue De Paula (No. 6 overall, per MLB Pipeline) has already made himself a clear candidate to be the primary left-handed bat off the bench after playing in just 10 big league games, and he can make it an easy decision for the team with a strong final week.

For performance and health reasons, the bullpen could be the most fluid position group as the Dodgers set their rosters. Edwin Díaz tossed two scoreless innings in low leverage after returning from the IL and could lock down his spot if he continues to perform. Edgardo Henriquez (lower back strain) is not eligible to be activated from the IL in the regular season, but his potential postseason availability has huge implications for the leverage mix.