Projecting the Dodgers 2026 NLCS roster and setting the rotation

Last time I did this Dodgers playoff roster exercise, it was with the NLDS opponent yet to be determined, but eventually it was determined to be the Braves, who they thankfully beat in four games.

Now that the Brewers have similarly dispatched the Padres in four games, the rematch of the 2025 NLCS will take place in the 2026 NLCS between the lowly, underdog Dodgers and the mighty back-to-back regular-season wins leader Brewers.

For the NLDS, I gave options for taking 12 or 13 pitchers (I did think they’d opt for 13), and ended up getting one spot wrong when Brock Stewart made the roster over Justin Wrobleski (and Stewart performed well). With the NLCS set, it seems as good a time as any to try out the exercise again even if there won’t be much movement.

======

Locks (23)

Rotation (4): Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow
Bullpen (7): Edwin Diaz, Tanner Scott, Edgardo Henriquez, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Roki Sasaki, Brock Stewart
Catchers (2): Will Smith, Hunter Feduccia
Infielders (3): Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy
Outfielders (3): Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker
Shohei Ohtani (1): Shohei Ohtani
Designated Hitter (1): Josue De Paula
Utility (2): Tommy Edman, Enrique Hernandez

The rotation is obvious, and the only debate is the order. Dave Roberts alluded to using Yoshi in Game 3 of the NLDS to set him up for a potential NLCS, and indeed things have worked out perfectly.

Skubal will be going on seven days rest in Game 1 — with the benefit of not even having to even think about warming up for a relief appearance in the NLDS — while Yamamoto is setup perfectly for another road start on five days rest in Game 2. Snell would go next on nine days rest in Game 3, before Glasnow goes on seven days rest in Game 4, though if they want to get Snell an extra day for any health issue (groin?), they could just flip flop them. Skubal should be able to go on four days in Game 5, even though he’s better on five days, and with a day off afterward Dave can at least have a quick hook to unload the remaining pen arms. That sets up Yamamoto for Game 6 on his normal five days rest, and then Game 7 is where you just unload everything left. It’s possible they go quasi-pen game in Game 5 if they’re leading 3-1 or something to give Skubal and Yamamoto extra rest, but that seems unlikely.

For the pen, Diaz has obviously been bumped to a lock, as he’s the closer. While the Brewers are better against righties, the Braves had more pronounced splits and they still took Stewart, so it’s hard to see them dropping him after he performed well. While Bubic giving up a bad luck/defense triple and throwing a wild pitch isn’t enough to sour me on him, he does feel more of an odd-man out than Brock at this point, so he was dropped.

Onto position players, Miguel Rojas is old and hurt his back, that is never a good combination. It sounds like he was out for last series and they only didn’t replace him cause it was approaching the end of the series and removing him would’ve caused him to miss the NLCS for sure. If he’s healthy, he’s on, but it’s hard to know if he is right now.

Not what you want. pic.twitter.com/GsG9M8cxqI https://t.co/HBoTxVppc4

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) October 7, 2026

Meanwhile, given the confidence shown in De Paula in the NLDS, it’s hard to see him being dropped at this point, especially when Ohtani feels like he could get reinjured on any one bad swing.

Josue De Paula's 5-pitch walk that helped the winning rally. I love him. pic.twitter.com/Cpuq6wSEIA

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) October 8, 2026

That leaves three players left, and a max of two more pitchers. In a seven-game series, I think they take 13 pitchers for sure this time, leaving just one spot left for a position player.

Candidates (10)

Bullpen (5): Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan, Kris Bubic, Jack Dreyer, Will Klein
Catcher (1): Dalton Rushing
Infielders (2): Miguel Rojas, Alex Freeland
Outfielders (1): Alex Call
Utility (1): Hyeseong Kim

With the 15-day wait requirement of an option lapsed, Sheehan returns as an option. Meanwhile, I removed Bobby Miller since he seems he’s not a possibility with Emmet’s return barring multiple injuries.

Anyway, so this basically comes down to Wrobo against Sheehan and Bubic against Dreyer, with maybe Klein as a dark horse if he’s healthy. They need a real swingman option in a longer series, and I think I’d go with Sheehan here just because he’s executing better than Wrobo of late. Plus they didn’t even take five lefties against the Braves, so it’s more unlikely here. However, they treat Sheehan more like a backup, so I wouldn’t be surprised either way. For the last spot, I still lean Bubic unless they see a specific matchup they like with Dreyer due to his stuff over Bubic’s command.

For the position player spot, it’s pretty simple. If Rojas is healthy, he’s on, if not, they’re probably taking Alex Freeland, who finished September hot and gives them positional versatility along with some athleticism on the bases. He’s a surprisingly decent matchup option on paper, as while the Brewers have a ton of lefties, their best pitchers are all righties and Freeland hits velocity well. Kim is the victim of a numbers crunch here, as it’s harder to take a specialist that is mostly just there to run when his other specialist competition just helped seal a series and was used twice in high leverage.

So I got Sheehan, Bubic, and Rojas to round out the 26-man, though the other options mentioned certainly wouldn’t surprise at this point.

======

They depth of the roster showed in the NLDS, as almost everybody contributed in some way, and things likely only deepen in that sense for the NLCS roster. They’re once again setup ideally going into the series, the difference being this time the opponent is equally situated as well.

Definitely expecting a closer series than last time, though we’ll really see on Sunday. 8 wins to go.