The 2020 MLB postseason begins Wednesday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they host the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game Wild Card Series at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers released their official 28-man roster for the series on Wednesday morning and there weren’t any big surprises with Keibert Ruiz, Matt Beaty and Terrance Gore securing the final few spots.
Milwaukee’s roster, on the other hand, had significant omissions. The main one was that breakout relief pitcher Devin Williams being left off the active roster altogether due to a shoulder injury.
Williams was arguably the best reliever in all of baseball in 2020, sporting an unhittable changeup. In 22 games, Williams allowed just one earned run in 27 innings, good for a 0.33 ERA to go along with a 0.86 FIP and 0.63 WHIP with 53 strikeouts and nine walks.
Given the injuries in their starting rotation with both Corbin Burnes and Brett Anderson being left off the roster as well, the Brewers are going to have to rely on their bullpen heavily in this series, which makes the loss of Williams even tougher to deal with. They still have Josh Hader though, who remains one of the best closers in baseball.
Brent Suter is set to take the mound for the Brewers in Game 1, with Brandon Woodruff to follow in Game 2. The only other starters on the roster are Adrian Houser and Josh Lindblom, so one of them would likely get the ball if the series gets to a Game 3.
As far as position players go, the Brewers’ roster looks as expected. One of the final spots went to Daniel Vogelbach, who was an All-Star for the Seattle Mariners in 2019 but was designated for assignment this August. After a short stint with the Toronto Blue Jays, he was picked up by Milwaukee and has regained his All-Star form.
Vogelbach hit .328/.418/.569 with four home runs and 12 RBI in 19 games for the Brewers.
Brewers postseason roster for Wild Card Series (listed alphabetically in roles they filled during regular season)
Starting pitchers: Adrian Houser, Josh Lindblom, Brent Suter, Brandon Woodruff
Relief pitchers: Ray Black, Alex Claudio, Josh Hader, Corey Knebel, Freddy Peralta, Drew Rasmussen, Justin Topa, Eric Yardley
Catchers: David Freitas, Omar Narvaez, Jacob Nottingham
Infielders: Orlando Arcia, Jedd Gyorko, Ryon Healy, Keston Hiura, Eric Sogard, Luis Urias, Daniel Vogelbach
Outfielders: Ryan Braun, Ben Gamel, Avisail Garcia, Jace Peterson, Tyrone Taylor, Christian Yelich
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