As the Los Angeles Dodgers were well on their way to a seventh consecutive National League West title, manager Dave Roberts began the process of evaluating players in specific roles and situations as a means to gain clarity for a postseason roster.
The bulk of experimenting came with the pitching staff, as rookies Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May took turns auditioning both in the starting rotation and out of the bullpen. With Rich Hill seemingly poised to fill the role of Game 4 starter, Gonsolin and May appear likely candidates to pitch in relief during the postseason.
September also saw the arrival of Gavin Lux, and he too is perceived to be a safe bet to make the Dodgers’ NL Division Series roster. Manager Dave Roberts has already indicated the team would carry 13 position players during the first round.
He additionally revealed Ross Stripling would be a member of the postseason bullpen, and acknowledged a scenario where both Gonsolin and May make the NLDS roster as well.
With that information, members of the DodgerBlue.com staff submitted their predictions below. Players are listed in alphabetical order for each position group.
Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand):
Starting pitchers (4): Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (8): Pedro Baez, Tony Gonsolin, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Adam Kolarek, Kenta Maeda, Dustin May, Julio Urias
Catchers (2): Russell Martin, Will Smith
Infielders (7): Matt Beaty, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy, Corey Seager, Justin Turner
Outfielders (4): Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor
The position players were easiest to put together. Since it was revealed that Alex Verdugo won’t be back until the NL Championship Series at the earliest, these 13 players have essentially been locks.
Edwin Rios has been swinging a hot bat as of late, but Matt Beaty’s overall contributions throughout the season earned him that final spot.
As far as the starting pitchers go, the top three were locks and Hill proved his last two outings that he is healthy and productive enough to be the fourth starter. It won’t be a traditional start, but if he could give the Dodgers four or five solid innings, that is more than enough.
The eight relievers does not include Stripling — but I went with are better options in my opinion, so it will be interesting to see which one of them is left off in favor of Stripling.
It will likely be one of Gonsolin or May, although I feel they have both done enough to earn a roster spot. Both of them have better natural stuff than Stripling, and that plays up out of the bullpen in October.
Jeff Spiegel (@JeffSpiegel):
Starting pitchers (4): Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (8): Pedro Baez, Tony Gonsolin, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Adam Kolarek, Kenta Maeda, Dustin May, Julio Urias
Catchers (2): Russell Martin, Will Smith,
Infielders (7): Matt Beaty, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy, Corey Seager, Justin Turner
Outfielders (4): Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor
At this point, the only real drama for the Dodgers is what they do with their bullpen. The starting rotation is locked and loaded — with a whole host of options if they felt the need to have a four-man staff in the NLDS.
The position players are basically in the same boat, with roles clearly carved out now that everyone seems to be back to full health.
So, the bullpen. Pedro Baez, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Adam Kolarek, Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias can be considered sure-things at this point. While Kolarek is a bit less familiar to folks, he’s the lefty specialist they’ve used of late and should play a big role this postseason.
That leaves three more spots, which I’ve given to Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and pseudo starter Rich Hill. The guys on the outside looking in for me are Ross Stripling and Caleb Ferguson. Granted, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts essentially named Stripling to the postseason bullpen.
The case for May is simple: the guy has been lights out since getting comfortable in relief. Over the last 30 days he has made nine appearances (10.1 innings), allowing just three earned runs while striking out 15. His ability to touch the upper 90s with a fastball in relief should play up well all October.
As for Gonsolin, his 2.93 ERA in 40 innings pitched this season should earn him the opportunity to be a long reliever or fourth starter if needed. The last spot goes to Hill, simply because I can’t imagine them putting a roster together without him on it.
I have no clue what role he plays, but whatever it is, I trust he’ll play it well.
Outside looking in: Stripling, Ferguson and Dylan Floro. I think this is a case of too many good options. Ferguson is probably the best bet of these three, but I think his propensity to put batters on base (nine walks in last 18.1 IP) is a deal-killer in the postseason.
Matt Borelli (@mcborelli):
Starting pitchers (4): Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (8): Pedro Baez, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Adam Kolarek, Kenta Maeda, Dustin May, Ross Stripling, Julio Urias
Catchers (2): Russell Martin, Will Smith
Infielders (7): Matt Beaty, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy, Corey Seager, Justin Turner
Outfielders (4): Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor
Coming off back-to-back encouraging outings, I believe Rich Hill has earned a spot on the Dodgers’ NLDS roster. As for the bullpen, the only difficult decision for me was choosing two from the group of Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Ross Stripling.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was open to the idea of including both rookies on the roster, but I ultimately think only one of Gonsolin or May will make the team. So I opted for May over Gonsolin because he closed out the regular season on a 10-inning scoreless streak. Roberts also previously assured Stripling that he would pitch out of the bullpen.
The position player group was much easier to predict. There are no surprises in either the infield or outfield groups. Matt Beaty and Gavin Lux essentially got the nod over Jedd Gyorko and Kristopher Negrón due to a combination of their success and the left-handed balance they provide.
Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015):
Starting pitchers (4): Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (8): Pedro Baez, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Adam Kolarek, Kenta Maeda, Dustin May, Ross Stripling, Julio Urias
Catchers (2): Russell Martin, Will Smith
Infielders (7): Matt Beaty, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy, Corey Seager, Justin Turner
Outfielders (4): Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson, A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor
Like others stated, the rotation became relatively clear with Rich Hill being able to manage the MCL sprain in his left knee, and the position players were easy to forecast as well. Thus, it comes down to the bullpen.
While Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May have both earned a spot on the NLDS roster, it may only be that the latter is included. May’s velocity and recent success in leverage moments offer a safety net should Joe Kelly be hampered by his unspecified injury.
If that is enough to keep Kelly off the NLDS roster altogether — which isn’t believed to be the case — it would open the door for Gonsolin. Another path could be if the Washington Nationals win the Wild Card Game.
They have hit left-handers well, which perhaps influences the Dodgers to make a bold roll of the dice and by leaving Adam Kolarek or Julio Urias off in favor of Gonsolin.
