One of the hot-button topics heading into the playoffs is who will make the roster so let’s take a dive into the nitty gritty of it and try and come up with the most likely scenarios.

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Post-Season Roster

To dive into this issue, the first thing I feel necessary is to list all of the players that we know will make the post-season roster. Each playoff teams get 26 spots and the following players will assuredly be on the Dodgers roster. Keep in mind that rosters can be changed in between series, so, just because someone doesn’t make the roster for the first round doesn’t mean he is done for the year. So, here are the players that I think we can all agree are likely if not guaranteed to make every post-season roster, barring injury of course.

Pitchers:

• Yency Almonte
• Tyler Anderson
• Tony Gonsolin
• Brusdar Graterol
• Andrew Heaney
• Clayton Kershaw
• Chris Martin
• Evan Phillips
• Julio Urias
• Alex Vesia
• Caleb Ferguson

Catchers:

• Will Smith
• Austin Barnes

Infielders:

• Freddie Freeman
• Gavin Lux
• Max Muncy
• Trea Turner
• Justin Turner

Outfielders:

• Cody Bellinger
• Mookie Betts
• Chris Taylor

Almost Assuredly Slam Dunks:

• Trayce Thompson
• Hanser Alberton

Probable

• Tommy Kahnle

Let’s assume that all of the players listed above make it, which, in my opinion, they almost assuredly will, that’s 24 of the 26 and leaves 2 spots available, so here are the candidates that are fighting for those 2 spots

Michael Grove and Victor Gonzalez

It has been officially announced that Grove’s season is over as he has been moved to the IL, and I am covering Gonzalez out of due diligence, but he is a long shot, to say the least considering that he didn’t log a single MLB inning and was placed on a rehab assignment in OKC since mid-August. Blake Treinen is another candidate that all Dodgers fans would love to have back but logged on 5 MLB innings this year and is on the I.L. again, for right shoulder tightness, and I’ve never known shoulder tightness to have a quick recovery, so putting him on a post-season roster would be a huge gamble because the Dodgers wouldn’t have any idea what he could give the club.

David Price- Price has been much better than I think most Dodgers fans give him credit for posting a 2.45 ERA, a WHIP of just 1.17, an average against of .242 and a 4 to 1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Price has been very good as of last as well going scoreless in his last 3 outings and 4 of his last 5.  His ERA in August was 1.50, his WHIP was just 0.50 his average against was just 0.86 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was 4 to 1, so he has made a great case for making the post-season roster. In fact, he should probably be in the probable category, but I wanted to explain his case further.

Joey Gallo-Gallo will be an interesting decision to make, and certainly a roll of the dice because putting him in could mean 1/4 mile’s worth of home runs, but he struck out 28 times in 56 at-bats last month, so there is a lot of risk/reward to adding him.

Kevin Pillar- Pillar just made it back from what was supposed to be a season-ending fractured shoulder, but, in typical Pillar fashion, made it back sooner than expected. He was having a really good year before the injury hitting .315 with an OPS over 1.000 when he got promoted. He only played 3 games in L.A. before his injury, then has played 6 games since returning hitting .319 with an OPS of .804 since his return. Pillar’s last full season in the MLB was in 2020 where he hit .288 with an OPS of .798. He is a proven veteran that is still a great player and is readily available, so it will be interesting to see if he makes the roster. I think the Dodgers will carry 4 outfielders so that 4th spot will come down to Pillar and Thompson.

Justin Bruihl- Bruihl posted a 3.80 ERA in 23.2 Major League innings, a WHIP of 1.18 and he is left-handed. Remember that clubs can reset their rosters between series, so, even if Bruihl doesn’t make the first roster in the post-season, he, more than likely, has a good chance to make a roster somewhere along the way in the playoffs.

Andre Jackson- Jackson has had some rough patches this year but has really worked at getting back to the top of his game and he is pitching well. His changeup has been very good and he had not given up a run in his 3 outings with L.A. until Sunday when he gave up 2 in the top of the 9th.  Jackson has an ERA with L.A. of 1.86, an average against of .243, a WHIP of 1.54, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of a little over 2 to 1. Having logged just 9.2 MLB innings this year, and having never pitched in a post-season setting, it would be a leap of faith to put him in high-leverage post-season settings, but, he is pitching very well and I know the organization has a lot of confidence in his abilities, so we will see.

Ryan Pepiot- Pepiot has some of the best stuff of any pitcher in the game and has secondary stuff that plays well in crisis moments when hitters have extra adrenaline. If you need proof of that, just research how well he has performed in jams this season, and I assure you it’s not a fluke. Pepiot has shown versatility in being a starter, a reliever, and a 1-inning opener, so he can be used in whichever role the Dodgers need. Pepiot was completely dominant in the hitter-friendly PCL this year and was good at the MLB level as well posting a 3.47 ERA, an average against of just .200, and recording 42 strikeouts in 36.1 innings.

Craig Kimbrel-Kimbrel has recently been removed from the closer’s role and has posted great numbers since. In his last 4 outings, he hasn’t given up a run and has given up just 1 hit. His ERA in September was .318, his WHIP was 0.79, and his average against was just .118. Kimbrel has taken a lot of fire from Dodgers fans, and he was removed from the closer’s role for good reason, but the numbers would suggest that his performance this year makes a great case for him to make the post-season roster alongside one of the others listed in this part of the article. Especially considering the experience he brings with him which, in my opinion, just can’t be thrown away.

Miguel Vargas– Vargas is a fan favorite after winning the Branch Rickey Player of the Year award last year after winning the AA Central hitting crown. He backed that up this year by hitting .304 this year in AAA OKC with an OPS of .915. Vargas also hit his first Big League home run last weekend and has 5 RBIs in his last 4 games. But, while it appears like he might be settling in a bit, the facts are that he is only hitting .178 with an OPS of .458 during his MLB stint, and doesn’t have a defined defensive position. Putting all those factors together make Vargas a long shot to make the post-season roster IMO, but, please don’t take that as a slight to his abilities. He is a fantastic young player with a great hit tool and promises to be a very productive Major Leaguer, but when crunching the numbers, it would appear as if he is a year away, but with his kind of hit tool, I wouldn’t be surprised with any scenario that took place.

James Outman-Outman is another fan favorite and for great reason, he was one of the best players in the Minor Leagues this year and performed very well during his time with L.A. Outman hit .294 with an OPS of .978 in the Minor Leagues this year, had 31 home runs, and also hit .462 with an OPS of 1.409 during his Major League call up, so he proved that he is more than capable of handling the moment. He is a great combination of athletic ability and power, and is going to have a  very productive Major League career, but, Dodgers fans are left to assume that he is not part of the post-season plans just simply because he never got called back up at the end of the season. I’ve seen this guy play a bunch, so don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see him promoted for the playoffs because I have that much confidence in his game, but one would think he would have been auditioned in the last couple of weeks if that were going to happen. One can hope though.

Edwin Rios– Rios hit .259 with an OPS of .831 and hit 9 home runs in 189 AAA at-bats this year. He is listed as a designated hitter on the OKC roster, and if he were included in a post-season roster, I don’t see any way he plays any defense. But, I learned a long time ago to never use the word “never”, so I’ll leave that in the highly improbable category.

Dustin May-May made it back from Tommy John but then had to miss the final couple weeks of the regular season with lower back tightness. May had a rough ending to 2022 where he gave up 14 runs in his last 4 outings spanning 19 innings and then was placed on the IL to finish the season. Also, the AAA season is over as well, so putting him on a playoff roster would be a huge leap of faith. But, we all know how talented he is, and on the year he recorded a 4.50 ERA in his 30.0 innings this year with L.A. and posted a 1.17 WHIP, had an average against of just .194 and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of a touch over 2 to 1. It will be interesting to see how the Dodgers handle this situation.

Phil Bickford– Bickford is in the same situation of being on the 15-day I.L. with shoulder fatigue to end the season, and, like with Treinen, I’ve never known shoulder issues to have a quick resolution. Bickford posted a 4.72 ERA on the year with a WHIP of just. 1.10, so his WHIP was good, his average against was just .233 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was 4.78 to 1.

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