Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After a strong offensive showing in the NLCS, the Dodgers are heading to the World Series for the first time in four years. They’ll take on the Yankees for the first time in 43 years in the Fall Classic.
We have seen how Dave Roberts managed his club through the first two rounds of the postseason, and expect more of the same from him in the Series. The only difference is, there might be some new faces on the roster — it all depends on health.
Miguel Rojas missed the NLCS with an adductor injury and hernia. He’s going to need surgery over the winter, so it really seems like he’s a longshot for the World Series roster. Then again, Gavin Lux is dealing with a hip flexor injury. With three of the four Yankees’ starting pitchers being right-handed, he figures to play a decent-sized role, provided he’s healthy enough. This is about the only question mark among position players, as everyone else’s spots should be filled.
The pitching side is where things get a little more interesting. Alex Vesia was out for the NLCS after suffering an intercostal injury. That left Anthony Banda as the only lefty in the bullpen. If Vesia can come back and be effective (big “if” at this point), that’d be huge.
There was some talk of Tony Gonsolin perhaps cracking the NLCS roster in a year that has seen him recover from Tommy John surgery late last season. He had the procedure in late August of 2023. The typical recovery time is 14 months, but that also includes either a full offseason or rigorous work and minor-league rehab assignments during the season. He logged just 7 2/3 innings in Triple-A and, despite looking pretty good, I don’t think him pitching at any point in 2024 was part of the plan. Because of Brent Honeywell Jr.‘s performance in the NLCS (doesn’t look great on paper), the Dodgers might opt to keep Gonsolin off the roster.
Another forgotten name — only because of his absence due to injury — is Brusdar Graterol. Andrew Friedman said after the NLCS concluded that both he and Vesia could be in the Dodgers’ World Series plans. He was coming back from a shoulder injury suffered in Spring Training only to strain his hamstring in his season debut in August. The rehab, obviously, isn’t has strenuous as what Gonsolin has had to endure, but he hasn’t pitched in nearly a month (Sept. 24), so throwing him into the World Series would be a big ask. At the same time, he’d be the freshest arm in the bullpen and would be an upgrade over one of the guys toward the back-half of the depth chart.
——
Here’s what the Dodgers’ World Series roster could look like come Friday night.
Catchers (2)
Austin Barnes
Will Smith
Infielders (3)
Freddie Freeman
Max Muncy
Gavin Lux
Outfielders (3)
Teoscar Hernandez
Kevin Kiermaier
Andy Pages
Infielders/Outfielders (4)
Mookie Betts
Tommy Edman
Enrique Hernandez
Chris Taylor
Ohtani (1)
Shohei Ohtani
Pitchers (13)
Anthony Banda
Ben Casparius
Ryan Brasier
Walker Buehler
Jack Flaherty
Brusdar Graterol
Brent Honeywell Jr.
Daniel Hudson
Michael Kopech
Evan Phillips
Blake Treinen
Alex Vesia
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
It feels like Rojas’ injuries are too much to overcome in such a short time. If the Series were in a week or two, he might have a better shot of making it. The Dodgers will roll with Lux’s hip and have Kiermaier’s left-handed bat and elite defense on the bench.
The Dodgers opt for Graterol over Edgardo Henriquez. The youngster was thrown into a difficult situation and made the most of it. And thanks to Casparius’ strong performance in the NLCS, Landon Knack was an easy omission (also, his NLCS Game 2 performance didn’t help). Casparius was trusted by Roberts in Game 6 to record four outs in the biggest game of the season. It wasn’t a 1:1, but it reminded me of Roberts trusting Dylan Floro in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series against Randy Arozarena — not the move one would expect on paper, but it worked out quite well.
For as much work as the bullpen did in both rounds of the NL playoffs, they’ll need to do it one more time in the World Series, as the Dodgers have just three true starting pitchers on the roster. It feels very 2019 Nationals, except they don’t have a Hall of Famer (Max Scherzer), a Hall of Fame-level talent (Stephen Strasburg) fronting the rotation, with a strong No. 3 starter (Patrick Corbin).
——
This is shaping up to be an epic World Series, and it’s been 40-plus years in the making. Some of the game’s biggest stars are going to be on the biggest stage. This is gonna be fun for baseball fans, pretty stressful for Yankee and Dodger fans.
