For the third time in their past four trips to the National League Division Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers went with 13 position players and 12 pitchers on their postseason roster. Now moving onto a best-of-seven NL Championship Series, the Dodgers added an extra arm.
Manager Dave Roberts revealed their intention to do so on Friday, and identified Brett Anderson as a candidate to be added. The club instead elected to go with Alex Wood as a third left-hander in the bullpen.
Wood was not included on the Dodgers’ NLDS roster, but he did travel with the team to Washington D.C.
Another new addition is utility man Kiké Hernandez. Prior to the NLDS beginning, Hernandez was among the players sent to Camelback Ranch to “stay hot,” as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts put it Oct. 4 during media availability before a workout at Dodger Stadium.
“With Kiké, he’s a very dynamic player. He didn’t have the year he would’ve liked to have had but we’re going to keep him going,” Roberts added.
“We felt to not have him on the roster, get him right and get him away from it a little bit to reset, get his swing right to potentially get him back in the NLCS.”
Complete breakdown of the Dodgers’ NLCS roster, with players listed alphabetically in each group:
Starting pitchers (4): Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Julio Urias
Relief pitchers (8): Luis Avilan, Pedro Baez, Joe Blanton, Grant Dayton, Josh Fields, Kenley Jansen, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood
Catchers (2): Yasmani Grandal, Carlos Ruiz
Infielders (4): Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Chase Utley
Outfielders (7): Andre Ethier, Kiké Hernandez, Howie Kendrick, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Josh Reddick, Andrew Toles
Hernandez and Wood effectively replace Austin Barnes and Charlie Culberson on the Dodgers’ postseason roster. Hernandez homered off Jon Lester, the Cubs’ Game 1 starter, in the first inning on June 1.
Like the Dodgers, the Cubs head into the NLCS with 13 position players and 12 pitchers, including four left-handed relievers.
