Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
This post should remind you a lot of last year’s post, as everything still applies except things were arguably a bit worse.
This was such a strange season for the Dodgers. They added the best baseball player to ever play, dealt with a multitude of injuries to key players, and still ended up with the best record in baseball — which was also their worst record since 2018.
Well, fifth-best record this year. Almost identical to 2018.
Last year, the question was about the rotation and Freddie Freeman. This year, the question is about the bullpen and Will Smith. The last update on Smith didn’t sound like he’d make the NLWCS roster, so he’ll be left out, but hopefully the Dodgers advance and like Freddie he can be ready for the NLDS.
What about the rest? Let’s speculate.
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Here’s a prediction as to how the Dodgers’ roster could look for the three-game NLWCS.
Catchers (2)
Infielders (4)
Freddie Freeman
Mookie Betts
Max Muncy
Miguel Rojas
Outfielders (4)
Andy Pages
Teoscar Hernandez
Michael Conforto
Alex Call
Utility (2)
Unicorn (1)
The position players are basically set with perhaps the only battle being between Hyeseong Kim and Conforto and/or Call for the last spot on the roster. This assumes Muncy and Edman are ready to go for the series in terms of health, though that’s anything but a guarantee. If either can’t go, then the debate becomes a moot point as Kim is next up.
I don’t have a problem with this alignment, as Kim hasn’t been the same since his injury and hadn’t really been given the playing time to show anything either. Thus, he’d be a defensive replacement and pinch-runner, both of which are potentially covered in some extent by Rojas and Call. Dave Roberts has already literally said he doesn’t see him as a fit for a the playoff roster, so that seems to make it obvious.
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Starters (3)
Blake Snell
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Shohei Ohtani
Bullpen (11)
Blake Treinen
Tanner Scott
Alex Vesia
Jack Dreyer
Anthony Banda
Edgardo Henriquez
Tyler Glasnow
Emmet Sheehan
Roki Sasaki
Justin Wrobleski
Ben Casparius
Apparently Will Klein being optioned means that barring injury, he has to miss both the NLWCS and NLDS.
Will Klein can’t be added to the roster until the NLCS. He’s eligible to return on Oct. 12, one day after NLDS Game 5. https://t.co/TahuVHhJJ0
— Blake (@ByBlakeWilliams) September 28, 2025
That makes optioning him a rather baffling decision.
Regardless, that opens up a chance for Casparius, and I think the final spot is likely between him and carrying Kim as a pinch-runner specialist. They likely feel they can use all the pen help they can get, so he gets in here for me.
Ohtani’s existence allows them to need only two starters, so they get 11 “relievers”, which should be enough to matchup to their heart’s content, though hopefully it’s relatively simple. If not, and they feel like the starters in the pen give them enough length, the short series means they can eschew a reliever in favor of an extra specialist, but they’ve gone vanilla all year so I’ll continue projecting as much here.
As far as Scott and Treinen go, even if you think they should be left off, there aren’t any viable candidates to replace them with Klein out. Not that it was realistic that they’d be left off anyway. Just be glad Kirby Yates won’t be around.
The real battle here is likely to come for the next round, as they’ll likely add Clayton Kershaw back to the roster and things will get reshuffled.
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Here’s how it might look in lineup form.
Vs. RHP
Ohtani DH
Betts SS
Freeman 1B
Muncy 3B
T. Hernandez RF
Edman CF
Pages LF
E. Hernandez 2B
Rortvedt C
Vs. LHP
Ohtani DH
Betts SS
Hernandez RF
Freeman 1B
Edman CF
Pages LF
Muncy 3B
E. Hernandez 2B
Rortvedt C
That’s how I think it should look, but obviously the other main possibility here is Michael Conforto starting against a righty and Alex Call starting against a lefty. But back in their last meaningful game against either handedness pitcher, Edman was in the lineup both times. Now, is he healthy enough to play center? It’s a question.
I’m also clearing room here for Enrique to get starts after his strong finish to the year. If Enrique does not start, then it’s either Conforto or Rojas instead against righties and Call or Rojas against lefties. It’s also possible that Muncy isn’t 100% and sits against lefties in favor of Enrique, which would move Call or Rojas into the lineup as well.
Rortvedt is penciled in here due to him taking playing time from Dalton late in the year, but Dalton finished hot and may find himself with potential starts.
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Truthfully though, all of this roster shuffling at the margins is unlikely to matter a ton. What will matter is whether their stars come up big again this year like they did last year, whether the starters can replicate their late-season runs, and whether the pen can use the small sample size to prove themselves in the postseason again.
Buckle up and see you on Tuesday.
