When the Los Angeles Dodgers set their postseason roster for the Wild Card Series, it featured only 13 pitchers for the best-of-three matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Dodgers predictably increased that to 14 for the National League Division Series.
As manager Dave Roberts indicated would be the case, Dylan Floro was added to the active roster for the best-of-five series with the San Diego Padres. It came at the expense of Keibert Ruiz as a third catcher, as the Dodgers elected to continue carrying Terrance Gore.
However, L.A. also made a change with position players, replacing Edwin Rios with Gavin Lux. The decision came across as curious for multiple reasons. Primarily that Lux never quite found his footing this season and wasn’t active for the Wild Card round.
Rios tweaked his left groin on a fielding drill during a workout at Globe Life Field on Sunday. “He was taking some ground balls and made a play to his right, threw the ball to first base and tweaked his groin a little bit,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed.
“Obviously significant enough for us not to include him on this active roster. It’s better today than it was yesterday, so hopefully he’ll just continue to improve. As we get through this series, hopefully he’ll be available for the next one.”
Despite the Dodgers facing left-hander Brent Suter, Rios started as the designated hitter in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series for his postseason debut. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout, and didn’t appear in Game 2.
Rios earned a spot on the playoff roster behind not only a power swing at the plate but improved defense as well. He played six games (five starts) at first base and otherwise spent time at third base (21 games; 14 starts).
Roberts said Max Muncy would be the primary candidate to play third base in any scenario that required Justin Turner to be removed from an NLDS game. The domino effect would entail using Matt Beaty at first base or having Cody Bellinger come in from center field.
“Hopefully it doesn’t get to that point,” Roberts added.
Dodgers taxi squad for NLDS
Although Rios is essentially ruled out for the NLDS, he is among 12 players on the Dodgers taxi squad for the series.
He’s accompanied by Scott Alexander, Rocky Gale, Josiah Gray, Zach McKinstry, DJ Peters, Luke Raley, Ruiz, Dennis Santana, Josh Sborz, Mitch White and Alex Wood.
An injured player can be replaced on the active roster but he would become ineligible for that series and the next round, if applicable.
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