Who Makes the Playoff Roster?

Currently, the Dodgers have 28 players on the MLB Roster due to the September roster expansion. Two of those players will have to go, and unlike some sites who run headlines like “3 Dodgers Players who have no business being on the 2023 postseason roster,” I think they all deserve to be on the team, but of course, the Dodgers can only have 26 players. That means some are going to be disappointed. The writer of that blog went on to say that Kolten Wong, Alex Vesia, and Gavin Stone were the players who had no business being on the postseason roster.

Barring the dreaded injury-bug, here are the players who are “locks” to be on the postseason roster:

1. Ryan Brasier
2. Caleb Ferguson
3. Brusdar Graterol
4. Joe Kelly
5. Clayton Kershaw
6. Lance Lynn
7. Shelby Miller
8. Bobby Miller
9. Ryan Pepiot
10. Evan Phillips
11. Emmet Sheehan
12. Ryan Yarbrough

There needs to be 13 pitchers, so it would seem likely that the 13th spot boils down to Michael Grove and Alex Vesia. Michael Grove is fresh off the IL but pitched very well in his last outing. If healthy, he will probably get the nod. However, do not disrespect Alex Vesia! Since the All-Star game, he has a 2.73 ERA in 26.1 IP to go with a .80 WHIP. In those 26 IPs, he allowed 16 hits and struck out 29 while walking just one. The league has hit .170 against him since the break. “No business on being on the playoff roster” is something only a moron would say. It boils down to whether you want a lefty “one-inning deliver” or a RH long man in the bullpen. This is a tough call for the Dodger Brass, and I could argue it either way.

Now, let’s look at the 13 position players who are locks to make the squad:

1. Austin Barnes
2. Will Smith
3. Freddie Freeman
4. Kike Hernandez
5. Max Muncy
6. Miguel Rojas
7. Chris Taylor
8. Mookie Betts
9. Jason Heyward
10. James Outman
11. David Peralta
12. JD Martinez

The last spot boils down to Amed Rosario and Kolten Wong. Wong is a LH 2B who only has 20 ABs as a Dodger, so he would seem to be the odd man out, but it very well could boil down to the matchups against a particular team. Wong has had a terrible season, while Rosario is a Lefty Killer. So, it may depend upon who the team faces in the playoffs. For example, Milwaukee has almost all RH Pitchers. The Dodgers could feel that Wong may be the better choice. The last spot is certainly between Rosario and Wong. We shall see what transpires and if the dreaded injury bug strikes.

Let’s Play Two

Bobby Miller starts one game, and TBD starts the other one. I am not familiar with TBD’s stuff! The game starts at 12:10 p.m. PDT. I’d love to see Bobby Miller keep his ERA to way below 4.00.