The road was different than years past, but for the sixth consecutive season, the Los Angeles Dodgers were crowned champions of the National League West.
It took 163 games to do it as the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies were tied at 91-71 at the end of the season. The Dodgers earned a 5-2 victory at Dodger Stadium on Monday to propel themselves into the NL Division Series, where they will host the Atlanta Braves beginning on Thursday.
Major League Baseball recently announced the TV info and start times for the first three games of the series.
Before the series gets started, our staff came up with annual predictions of what the Dodgers’ 25-man roster will look like for the NLDS.
Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand):
Starting pitchers (4): Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (8): Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro, Kenley Jansen, Ryan Madson, Kenta Maeda, Alex Wood
Catchers (2): Austin Barnes, Yasmani Grandal
Infielders (6): Brian Dozier, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Manny Machado, Max Muncy, Justin Turner
Outfielders (5): Cody Bellinger, Matt Kemp, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor
For me, the starting rotation and 13 position players are pretty much set, so all of my tough decisions came in the bullpen.
Dylan Floro and Caleb Ferguson haven’t pitched much in recent weeks, but I still feel that they have done enough in high-leverage situations to be trusted in the postseason.
Many of the guys that I left off like Julio Urias, Tony Cingrani, Josh Fields and J.T. Chargois all came back from injuries in the month of September and simply did not get enough meaningful innings to prove that they are healthy and can return to their previous form to be trusted in a playoff game.
One other tough omission was Ross Stripling, who was outstanding for the Dodgers throughout the course of the 2018 season, being named to his first career All-Star team. Stripling also recently came back from a back injury though and did not look like his usual self in his last couple starts.
Since he is not needed as a starter, I don’t think there is a necessity for Stripling as a long reliever with other pitchers like Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda and Ferguson that can all also throw multiple innings at a time.
Matt Borelli (@mcborelli):
Starting pitchers (4): Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (8): Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro, Kenley Jansen, Kenta Maeda, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood
Catchers (2): Austin Barnes, Yasmani Grandal
Infielders (6): Brian Dozier, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Manny Machado, Max Muncy, Justin Turner
Outfielders (5): Cody Bellinger, Matt Kemp, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor
No surprises in the starting rotation. Constructing the Dodgers’ bullpen was most difficult for me, however, given the abundance of depth and difficult cuts that had to be made.
I opted for Caleb Ferguson over Tony Cingrani because the former adds extra length to the bullpen, while the latter only recently returned from a prolonged disabled list stint. Other tough omissions include Josh Fields and waiver trade deadline acquisition Ryan Madson.
Lastly, I gave the nod to Brian Dozier over Chase Utley for the Dodgers’ final bench spot. While Utley thrived in pinch-hit opportunities this season, the upside and power that Dozier offers makes his inclusion a no-brainer.
Jeff Spiegel (@JeffSpiegel):
Starting pitchers (4): Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu
Relief pitchers (8): Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Kenley Jansen, Kenta Maeda, Ryan Madson, Zach Rosscup, Alex Wood
Catchers (2): Austin Barnes, Yasmani Grandal
Infielders (6): Brian Dozier, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Manny Machado, Max Muncy, Justin Turner
Outfielders (5): Cody Bellinger, Matt Kemp, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor
For some reason, I found the bulk of this roster pretty easy to put together thanks to cues we’ve gotten from manager Dave Roberts over the final couple of weeks. I think the Dodgers have settled into a place where everyone knows their role and the platoons have been firmly established.
That said, there was a decision to make when it came to the final bullpen arms (Ryan Madson, Caleb Ferguson) and final bench players (Brian Dozier, Matt Kemp).
In the bullpen, let’s start with Madson. On the surface, this decision makes little sense — 6.48 ERA in nine appearances with the Dodgers — but hear me out. In his final five appearances, Madson has thrown five innings and allowed just two hits and one run while striking out seven. For me, that’s clue No. 1.
Secondly, on Sept. 29 in their 10-6 win against the San Francisco Giants (a must-win for the Dodgers), it was Madson who was the first summoned to relieve Clayton Kershaw in the sixth inning. To me, that communicates that this is a guy Roberts and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt trust — which is the most important thing heading into October.
As for Ferguson, he also gets the nod because of the trends I’ve seen in recent games. Of his last eight appearances, seven have been wins by the Dodgers. To me, that means that in games the team needs, Roberts trusts Ferguson — not as much as guys like Kenta Maeda or Scott Alexander, necessarily, but enough to earn a spot in the postseason.
It that spot doesn’t go to Ferguson, look for Josh Fields (no hits allowed in his last three appearances) or — my sleeper — J.T. Chargois (only one appearance since Aug. 20 — but it was a good one).
As for the final bench spots, there was considerably less drama. I think, simply put, Kemp is someone you can trust in a big spot to come through with a hit. He has been good of late (.339/.351/.571 in September) and has the veteran pedigree this clubhouse could use.
And Dozier? He hasn’t been great lately – but he’s a guy with pop that might be able to get you a big hit when you need it.
