Dodgers Dugout: What will the roster look like at the end of the season?

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. The important news this week: Freddie Freeman‘s son Maximus is home from the hospital.

Well, we are coming around the final turn and heading into the home stretch with only 47 games left this season. Will the Dodgers win the division? Who knows. I’d bet yes, but I wouldn’t put a lot of money on it. The Padres aren’t going to go anywhere, and everyone seems to be overlooking the Diamondbacks, who made it to the World Series last year.

The big question this week is, who would be on a probable postseason roster for the Dodgers? There are a lot of injuries, and about 17 position players for 13 roster spots in the postseason (unless they go with 12 pitchers, then 14). Yes, some of you more pessimistic people may think they won’t even make the postseason and I am being way too premature. We’ll find out in about seven weeks. But keep in mind, in this grim, brutal, bear of a season, the Dodgers still have the second-best record in the NL. And if you are right and the Dodgers don’t make the postseason, then ... congratulations?

One roster possibility was eliminated Monday when Cavan Biggio was designated for assignment to make room for the returning Freeman. Biggio hit .192/.306/.329 in 88 plate appearances, with a double, three homers and 10 RBIs. He wasn’t exactly a Gold Glove, and with the addition of what seemed like 20 utility infielders at the trade deadline, he was quickly the odd man out.

Another interesting thread was pulled Tuesday, when Dave Roberts said Mookie Betts would be the shortstop again when he comes back from his injury (and that he would bat second behind Shohei Ohtani).

So let’s take a look at the 26-man roster as of Thursday morning (I’m listing them where the Dodgers list them on their website). But first, go read what Jack Harris had to say about the roster crunch here.

Two-way players
Shohei Ohtani

Catchers
Will Smith
Austin Barnes

Infielders
Nick Ahmed
Freddie Freeman
Kiké Hernández
Gavin Lux
Miguel Rojas

Outfielders
Teoscar Hernández
Jason Heyward
Kevin Kiermaier
Andy Pages
Amed Rosario

Pitchers
*Anthony Banda
Jack Flaherty
Tyler Glasnow
Michael Grove
Brent Honeywell
Daniel Hudson
Joe Kelly
*Clayton Kershaw
Michael Kopech
Evan Phillips
River Ryan
Gavin Stone
*Alex Vesia

*-left-handed

Who are postseason locks as of this moment? Ohtani, Smith, Barnes, Freeman, Lux, Rojas, Teoscar Hernández and Heyward among the position players. That’s only eight of 13. Among pitchers: Banda, Flaherty, Glasnow, Grove, Hudson, Kopech, Phillips, Vesia. That’s seven of 13. So, that’s 15 of 26 spots accounted for. A month ago, Lux wasn’t a lock, but he has been one of their best hitters since the All-Star break and earned his spot.

Who’s on the IL and could come back in time for the postseason?

Infielders
Mookie Betts
Tommy Edman
Max Muncy

Outfielders
Chris Taylor

Of these, Betts is the closest to coming back. Betts says his hand feels great and he’s a lock to make the roster when he comes back. That’s nine of 13. Muncy could be back before the end of the month. If he comes back and can be 100%, he’s a lock. That’s 10. That leaves three spots.

Which position players are on our postseason roster right now?

Two-way players
Shohei Ohtani

Catchers
Will Smith
Austin Barnes

Infielders
Mookie Betts
Freddie Freeman
Gavin Lux
Max Muncy
Miguel Rojas

Outfielders
Teoscar Hernández
Jason Heyward

The final spots go to three of the following:

Nick Ahmed
Tommy Edman
Kiké Hernández
Kevin Kiermaier
James Outman
Andy Pages
Amed Rosario
Chris Taylor

Pages is the most probable choice there. He’s one of the few guys who can play center field, and Kiermaier hasn’t hit at all for the Dodgers yet. Pages is just not quite a lock yet. Kiermaier and Outman are long shots. Hernández is the favorite for one of the other spots. He has been hitting better the last couple of weeks and has been a clutch postseason hitter. That means the last spot goes to Ahmed, Edman, Rosario or Taylor. If Edman can come back and play anything like he used to play with the Cardinals, then he makes the team. It’s a big if, though. Ahmed was signed only because Rojas got hurt. And with Betts playing short, it makes Ahmed a long shot. But whoever plays better among those five in the last month probably gets the last spot, and it also depends on who the Dodgers play in the first round and how the players match up.

Note, I would have said Hernández is a lock until Roberts said the following (as quoted in Harris’ story here) about his improved play of late: “He’s playing his best baseball that he’s played in a while, on both sides of the ball.” Hernández is batting .300 since the All-Star break with five doubles and eight RBIs. “No. 1, he’s playing good baseball. But I also feel that he’s smart enough to realize that there’s other guys that are coming. And how do you keep getting opportunities? You perform.”

Now let’s turn to pitching. So far, we have:

Anthony Banda
Jack Flaherty
Tyler Glasnow
Michael Grove
Daniel Hudson
Michael Kopech
Evan Phillips
Alex Vesia

We need at least two more starting pitchers. Let’s see all the pitchers expected back from the IL before the postseason:

Ryan Brasier
Walker Buehler
Brusdar Graterol
Blake Treinen
Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Let’s assume that Treinen come back and pitches fine. That gives the Dodgers a postseason bullpen of:

Anthony Banda
Michael Grove
Daniel Hudson
Michael Kopech
Evan Phillips
Blake Treinen
Alex Vesia

Add Flaherty and Glasnow, and that gives us nine. We need four more. And we need at least two starters. If Kershaw pitches well down the stretch, he’s a lock. I think Stone makes the team right now, but he could pitch his way off it. If Ryan pitches well, he could make the team. Buehler could pitch his way onto the team, as could Yamamoto.

There are about a dozen combinations here. Most of that will be decided by who is pitching well down the stretch, and by who is the first-round opponent. Kopech could pitch himself off the team by then. Kelly could pitch his way on. Brusdar Graterol could return from his hamstring injury. The pitching staff is just in a much more murky situation because of the injuries and how erratic so many of them have been. Heck, Landon Knack or Justin Wrobleski could return and pitch his way onto the team.

And, a lot of this will be decided in the next couple of weeks. When Betts comes off the IL, someone has to go. Outman was sent down when Rojas was activated. And, there always could be an injury. I know a team physician for one of the local sports teams. He said that almost every professional athlete could be written up as injured after every game because of what they put their bodies through. Especially pitchers. (He also said most NFL players could qualify for a hospital stay after every game.)

So, it’s not hard to put a player on the IL for any number of things. When Graterol was activated, Treinen went on the IL. Now that Graterol is out again, Grove is activated. It’s possible that Ahmed is designated for assignment when Betts is activated. There are a lot of moving parts here.

When (and if) Buehler and Yamamoto come back, who goes off the active roster? How about when Brasier comes back? They could push back the return of players like Brasier and Taylor to September, when rosters can expand to 28 players.

We’ll just have to wait and see. None of this is set in stone. But it’s interesting to think about all the possibilities. It’s fun. And following baseball is supposed to be fun.

Phillies series

The Dodgers looked all set to win two of three from the Phillies when an atrocious call from third base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt turned Wednesday’s game around. Rojas tagged a runner at third, but, mystifyingly, Wendelstedt called the runner safe, saying Rojas was blocking his path. Replays clearly showed otherwise. To make it worse, when Roberts came out to complain, Wendelstedt started waving him back to the dugout, as if it was unheard of for a manager to come out on the field to complain about a call. Roberts was thrown out of the game for the first time this season.

The Dodgers fell apart after that, which is not good, but the failed called put them in a much tougher situation. Which is why it is hard to get too upset over losing the Phillies series. Now, if they get swept by the Pirates, that’s a whole different story.

Mookie to play shortstop

It was a bit of a surprise that Roberts said Betts would play shortstop upon his return. The Dodgers have two guys in Rojas and Ahmed who are Gold Glove-caliber there and right field has been a bit of a struggle all season. It comes down to whether you would rather have Ahmed/Rojas in the lineup or Heyward/Kiké Hernández there. The Dodgers would be much stronger defensively with Betts in right, but if they’d rather have Betts at short in the postseason, might as well play him there now to get more reps in. Every run is crucial in the postseason, so this could backfire. Or, Betts could be pleased and he goes on a tear. We won’t know how this plays out until the season comes to an end.

Welcome back Freddie

Freeman returned to the Dodgers on Monday after missing a few games when 3-year-old son Maximus was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. Mike DiGiovanna wrote about his return here. Some key quotes:

“Max is doing all right … but he’s got to relearn how to do pretty much everything,” Freeman said, pausing several times to rub his eyes and collect his thoughts. “Terrible syndrome, Guillain-Barré … but it’s a good thing I’m here, because it means things are trending better. No one should have to go through this, especially with a 3-year-old.”

“My 3-year-old son needing help to breathe, when five days earlier, he was doing front flips,” Freeman said, when asked to recall the toughest part of the ordeal. “You just wish you could switch. You really do. Like, I’ve been through a lot in my life. I lost my mom when I was 10, but you can’t really compare any of this because both are awful.”

“But seeing your kid fighting for his own life when there’s nothing he or anybody else could do. His immune system started attacking his own nerves, and that’s the heartbreaking thing. He can’t breathe on his own, he’s on a ventilator, that was hard.”

“It was Wednesday at 10:46 p.m., I’ll never forget — he had his ventilator pulled, and within six minutes, he was sitting on me,” Freeman said. “I can’t tell you how good that felt, to be able to hold my son again. That was a special time, just knowing how hard he fought in those five days.”

When Freeman returned Monday, he was greeted by all his teammates wearing #MaxStrong shirts with “No. 5 Freeman” on the back.

“I don’t know whose idea it was, but that was the first time I cried today, when I walked in and saw those,” Freeman said of the T-shirts. “It means a lot. The support from this organization has been … there’s no words. I can’t even put it into words, really.”

One key thing Freeman said about seeing his son hooked up to a ventilator, unable to move:

“I know Dodgers fans wouldn’t like this, but I would gladly strike out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the World Series 300 million times in a row than to see that again.”

Freddie, Dodgers fans not only like that, they understand totally. There is nothing more important than family.

What do you think?

Poll question from last time, after 12,688 votes:

What grade do you give the Dodgers’ trade deadline deals?

B: 46.7%
C: 39.7%
A: 6.1%
D: 6.0%
F: 1.5%

Since the All-Star break

How the Dodgers hitters and pitchers have fared since the All-Star break:

Gavin Lux, .404/.484/.692, 52 at-bats, 6 doubles, 3 homers, 12 RBIs, 7 walks, 17 K’s
Austin Barnes, .316/.409/.474, 19 at-bats, 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 3 walks, 5 K’s
Teoscar Hernandez, .306/.359/.625, 72 at-bats, 5 doubles, 6 homers, 12 RBIs, 5 walks, 18 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .270/.372/.487, 37 at-bats, 2 double, 2 homers, 9 RBIs, 4 walks, 6 K’s
Kike Hernandez, .267/.333/.400, 60 at-bats, 5 doubles, 1 homer, 8 RBIs 6 walks, 15 K’s
Chris Taylor, .267/.313/.400, 15 at-bats, 2 doubles, 1 walk, 6 K’s
Nick Ahmed, .243/.263/.324, 37 at-bats, 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 11 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .229/.337/.529, 70 at-bats, 6 doubles, 5 homers, 12 RBIs, 12 walks, 21 K’s
Jason Heyward, .225/.289/.350, 40 at-bats, 2 doubles, 1 homer, 4 RBIs, 4 walks, 11 K’s
Cavan Biggio, .212/.316/.424, 33 at-bats, 1 double, 2 homers, 8 RBIs, 5 walks, 13 K’s
Miguel Vargas, .200/.385/.200, 10 at-bats, 3 walks, 3 K’s
Amed Rosario, .200/.200/.300, 10 at-bats, 1 double, 1 RBI, 2 K’s
Andy Pages, .189/.279/.264, 53 at-bats, 4 doubles, 7 RBIs, 6 walks, 19 K’s
Will Smith, .096/.203/.096, 52 at-bats, 3 RBIs, 6 walks, 19 K’s
James Outman, .077/.250/.308, 13 at-bats, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 2 walks, 6 K’s
Miguel Rojas, .077/.077/.077, 13 at-bats, 1 RBI, 2 K’s
Kevin Kiermaier, .000/.200/.000, 8 at-bats, 1 walk, 4 K’s
Hunter Feduccia, 0 for 1
Team, .237/.321/.410, 34 doubles, 23 homers, 66 walks 178 K’s, 4.67 runs per games

Pitching

Jack Flaherty, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 walk, 7 K’s
Michael Kopech, 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 1 hit, 6 K’s
Kike Hernandez, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 1 hit
River Ryan, 1-0, 1.72 ERA, 15.2 IP, 11 hits, 9 walks, 14 K’s
Justin Wrobleski, 1.80 ERA, 10 IP, 7 hits, 3 walks, 7 K’s
Landon Knack, 1-0, 1.80, 5 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 6 K’s
Anthony Banda, 1.86 ERA, 1 save, 9.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 walks, 13 K’s
Daniel Hudson, 2.45 ERA, 4 saves, 7.1 IP, 5 hits, 3 walks, 6 K’s
Brent Honeywell, 2.70 ERA, 1 save, 13.1 IP, 16 hits, 3 walks, 8 K’s
Ryan Yarbrough, 1-0, 3.18 ERA, 5.2 IP, 4 hits, 8 K’s
Tyler Glasnow, 1-1, 4.00 ERA, 18 IP, 15 hits, 5 walks, 21 K’s
Blake Treinen, 3-1, 4.05 ERA, 6.2 IP, 6 hits, 2 walks, 9 K’s
Clayton Kershaw, 0-2, 4.38 ERA, 12.1 IP, 17 hits, 3 walks, 11 K’s
Michael Grove, 4.50 ERA, 2 IP, 2 hits, 1 K
James Paxton, 1-0, 5.40 ERA, 5 IP, 4 hits, 4 walks, 7 K’s
Gavin Stone, 0-2, 5.95 ERA, 19.2 IP, 29 hits, 4 walks, 13 K’s
Alex Vesia, 1-2, 6.00 ERA, 6 IP, 7 hits, 4 walks, 11 K’s
Joe Kelly, 6.14 ERA, 7.1 IP, 9 hits, 5 walks, 9 K’s
Evan Phillips, 13.50 ERA, 1 save, 4 IP, 9 hits, 3 walks, 7 K’s
Yohan Ramirez, 47.25 ERA, 1.1 IP, 6 hits, 7 ER, 4 walks, 2 K’s
Brusdar Graterol, 54.00 ERA, 0.1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk
Team, 10-8, 4.15 ERA, 7 saves, 160.1 IP, 161 hits, 59 walks, 166 K’s

Up next

Friday: Pittsburgh (Mitch Keller, 10-5, 3.20 ERA) at Dodgers (Jack Flaherty, 8-5, 2.80 ERA), 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Saturday: Pittsburgh (Paul Skenes, 6-1, 1.99 ERA) at Dodgers (River Ryan, 1-0, 1.72 ERA), 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

Sunday: Pittsburgh (*Bailey Falter, 5-7, 3.87 ERA) at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 9-6, 3.54 ERA), 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, 1020 KTNQ

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Hernández: The Dodgers are asking a lot of Clayton Kershaw, because they have no choice

Brusdar Graterol’s season likely over after suffering injury during Dodgers’ loss

Mookie Betts will play short, bat second for Dodgers when he returns

Hernández: October comes early? Dodgers will be tested by brutal August schedule

Column: Activists and celebrities urge Dodgers to dump oil industry advertiser

Emotional return of Freddie Freeman is highlight of Dodgers’ win over Phillies

Back with Dodgers, Freddie Freeman details son’s ‘heartbreaking’ fight for life

Dodgers face ‘sense of urgency and competition’ with roster for the rest of the season

And finally

Freddie Freeman’s news conference about his son. Watch and listen here.