The Dodgers will spend the next several days waiting out the National League’s wild-card series, and that pause gives them time to sort through the NLDS roster math.
Los Angeles enters as the No. 2 seed in the National League and is set to face the winner of the Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies series. With a five-day layoff in front of them, the roster picture is still taking shape, but the core of it is fairly clear.
Shohei Ohtani will not pitch this postseason, but he is locked in as the everyday designated hitter and expected to sit near the top of the lineup. Behind the plate, Will Smith is in line to start every game, with Feduccia serving as the backup. Dalton Rushing would have been in the mix if he were fully healthy, but that is not the case.
The infield depth should come from Hernandez and Rojas, both of whom can add experience behind the four starting infielders. They also could see chances against left-handed pitching.
De Paula is projected to make the club as a left-handed bat off the bench, though the expectation is that he will not play the outfield and will be used strictly as a pinch hitter. Call is also expected to be included, giving the Dodgers a right-handed hitter who can step in as a late-game defensive replacement.
On the mound, the Dodgers are expected to carry 12 pitchers for the shorter NLDS. If they move deeper into October, they would add a 13th arm. That would leave some strong names out of the mix for this round, including left-handers Kris Bubic and Jack Dreyer and right-handers Brock Stewart and Kyle Hurt.
Edgardo Henriquez is expected to be on the roster despite his back injury. Blake Treinen, though, is a different story after the sudden injury that will keep him off the list.
The Dodgers also are not heading into the series with a fixed closer. The ninth inning appears to be a flexible situation early on, with Diaz, Scott and Sasaki among the most likely options.
"I think it’s one of those things where if you’re one of the 12 pitchers on a postseason roster, you’re in the ‘trust tree,’” Roberts said.
In Other News...
Dodgers Await An NLDS Opponent That Could Change Everything
The Dodgers will begin the postseason at home on Oct. 3 as the No. 2 seed in the National League Division Series, but their path to that date now runs through a wild card round that could reshape the bracket. Philadelphia locked up the final wild card spot as the No. 6 seed and now heads to Truist Park for a best-of-three series against the No. 3 Braves, with the winner set to help determine the matchup that awaits Los Angeles.
For the Dodgers, the immediate intrigue is less about their own schedule than about which version of October they might be handed after Atlanta and Philadelphia sort things out. The two clubs enter with regular-season history against both the Braves and each other, and the broadcast setup for the wild card games only adds to the sense that this part of the bracket is the one worth tracking most closely from Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]
Miguel Rojas Had An Emotional Message Dodgers Fans Need To Hear
Miguel Rojas is already thinking about life after baseball, even as he heads into what he expects will be his final season in 2026. The Dodgers infielder reflected emotionally on the stretch run of a 13-year MLB career, saying he wants to spend more time with his family once the playing days are over, which gives his next chapter a different kind of weight for a player who has long been valued for his steadiness and voice in the clubhouse.
For the Dodgers, the story does not end when Rojas hangs up his cleats. The club has offered him a player development role after retirement, and Dave Roberts has gone a step further in seeing future leadership potential, believing Rojas could one day manage in the big leagues. For now, though, the focus is on a farewell season that clearly means a lot to him and, by extension, to a team that has leaned on his experience for years. [Read more 🡒]
Yasiel Puig Just Revived A Dodgers Rivalry Fans Will Never Forget
Yasiel Puig has a knack for stirring up old memories in Los Angeles, and his latest Instagram post did exactly that. The former Dodgers outfielder shared a viral AI-generated video of himself and Madison Bumgarner dancing and rapping to a popular song, a surreal bit of internet theater that instantly brought back one of the more combustible rivalries from Puigs time in Dodger blue.
The video leans directly into the history between the two, pointing back to the on-field incidents that made every meeting feel like it carried extra heat. Puigs path since leaving the Dodgers has taken him through several other teams, but the reaction to this clip shows how deeply those matchups still live in the minds of fans who remember when every Dodgers-Giants chapter seemed to come with a little more edge. [Read more 🡒]