The Dodgers can sit back this week while the National League Wild Card Series plays out, but their own October puzzle still has a few moving parts.
One of the biggest questions centers on the bench, where Los Angeles appears to want Josue De Paula in the mix for the NLDS. The catch is that the Dodgers are reportedly not considering using him in the outfield, which makes the fit tricky. Even if the organization believes it can clean up his defense quickly, the margin for error in October is too thin to risk any leakage.
That same bench conversation also brings Hyeseong Kim into the picture. He could still land a spot as a pure pinch-runner or late-inning defensive option, but there’s a real chance he gets squeezed out if the Dodgers decide to carry 13 pitchers. Tommy Edman and Enrique Hernández may not bring Kim’s speed, but they can still cover multiple spots and offer the kind of defensive flexibility teams lean on in the postseason.
Behind the plate, the Dodgers already showed last year that they’re willing to get creative. They carried three catchers on both their Wild Card and NLDS rosters - Will Smith, Dalton Rushing and Ben Rortvedt - before trimming Rushing ahead of the NLCS.
Rortvedt barely got involved after Game 2 of the NLDS, and Feduccia is expected to fill a similar emergency role. As a left-handed bat, he could start a game and then come out early depending on the matchup, but the job is still Smith’s unless something goes sideways.
The outfield picture is much cleaner. Andy Pages, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández look set.
Pages had the kind of return stretch the Dodgers were hoping for after his month-long IL stint, batting .333 with a 1.180 OPS, two homers and five RBI against the Padres and Giants. That was the kind of response that had Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman breathing easier.
Alex Call, meanwhile, looks like the odd man out. He was on all four of LA’s playoff rosters last year and saw sporadic action through the month, but that came when Michael Conforto was still around. Tucker and Hernández have had their ups and downs this season, but leaving either one off the roster was never really on the table.
On the pitching side, the Dodgers’ rotation remains the part of this roster that looks most settled. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both dealt with injury issues during the season, but they returned when Los Angeles needed them. It may be asking a lot for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell or Glasnow to fully match the level they reached last year, but that’s the group the Dodgers are rolling with.
The bullpen is where the questions start piling up again. It’s not as battered or as shaky as it was a year ago, but it still isn’t the airtight unit its payroll would suggest. Henriquez is set to come off the IL and join the group for the NLDS, while Díaz, Sasaki and Scott remain difficult to pin down.
There’s also a chance the Dodgers go with eight relievers instead of nine, which would open a position-player spot for someone like Kim. For now, though, the projection sticks with nine bullpen arms. If that’s the route they choose, Bubic looks like the clearest cut - the last one in, and the first one out.
In Other News...
Dodgers Could Be Headed For A Costly Tarik Skubal Fight
With a first-round bye in hand, the Dodgers suddenly have something rare in October: time. Dave Roberts can line up his rotation without the daily grind of a playoff series, and that likely means Tarik Skubal will be in the mix as a starter as the club tries to position itself for a deep run. Even with the postseason front and center, the bigger conversation may already be drifting toward what comes next, because Skubal is shaping up as one of the most coveted arms in the game.
Reports have linked the Dodgers and Mets as the two teams most likely to chase him in free agency, but the market could get murky fast. The negotiating window before the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires is short, labor talks are looming and a potential salary cap could alter the way teams approach a deal. Add Scott Boras representing Skubal, and what looks like a straightforward pursuit could turn into a costly fight the Dodgers have to be ready for. [Read more 🡒]
Former Diamondbacks Outfielder Just Opened An Interesting NL West Door
Alek Thomas spent the 2026 season in a Dodgers organization that kept him busy at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where the outfielder helped the Comets win both the Pacific Coast League title and the Triple-A National Championship. Thomas, who came over from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a midseason trade, had already been removed from Los Angeles 40-man roster in early September, leaving him in limbo as the minor league year wound down.
Now he has elected free agency, creating an interesting NL West wrinkle for a player who has already crossed paths with two division rivals. For the Dodgers, it leaves open the possibility of a familiar depth piece returning to a system that saw him contribute to a championship run, even as Thomas moves into a market where his next stop could just as easily be inside the division as outside it. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Fans Will Read Into Dave Roberts Latest Elly De La Cruz Praise
Elly De La Cruz left his mark on the Dodgers in September 2026, and Dave Roberts made sure to acknowledge it. After De La Cruz powered Cincinnati against Los Angeles with multiple home runs, Roberts was straightforward about the Reds stars performance and his talent, the kind of manager acknowledgment that tends to travel fast when it comes after a rough night for a pitching staff.
For Dodgers fans, the bigger interest may be what gets read into Roberts latest praise. De La Cruz has already shown the sort of impact that commands attention, and any compliment from a rival manager is going to invite speculation about a future fit in Los Angeles. For now, though, there is no indication of any move, just a reminder that the Dodgers saw up close exactly why De La Cruz keeps coming up in conversations beyond Cincinnati. [Read more 🡒]