Miguel Rojas’ back injury is not expected to keep him out of the National League Championship Series, giving the Dodgers a boost as they get set to open against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
Manager Dave Roberts said Saturday, Oct. 10, that Rojas’ status remains encouraging after the veteran infielder took ground balls and went through batting practice Friday, Oct. 9.
“Today was encouraging,” Roberts said Friday, adding that Rojas’ workout was “a step in the right direction."
Rojas, 37, has not played since leaving Game 3 of the NLDS on Tuesday in Atlanta. The Dodgers said the injury appeared to worsen when he handled a ground ball hit by Ronald Acuña Jr. in the fifth inning, and his discomfort increased again during an eighth-inning at-bat before he was pulled.
He sat out Wednesday as Los Angeles finished off a four-game win over Atlanta to reach its third straight NLCS.
For now, the Dodgers are waiting before making any final call on Rojas’ roster spot. Roberts said the club wants to use the time before Sunday’s opener to evaluate him rather than rush into a decision. Los Angeles also plans to carry a 13th pitcher in the longer series, which means at least one position player from the Division Series roster will need to come off.
Emmett Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski, both regular-season starters who also worked out of the bullpen, are the leading candidates to join the NLCS roster.
Rojas’ bat still gives the Dodgers a useful option against left-handed pitching. Among Dodgers hitters with at least 20 at-bats versus lefties in the regular season, only Teoscar Hernández hit better than Rojas, who batted .293.
He also struck out just 18 times in 147 at-bats against southpaws this season, a profile that could matter if the Dodgers want a contact-oriented pinch hitter late in games. That need has been heightened by some of their top bats struggling, with Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani combining to go 3 for 29 with 11 strikeouts against the Braves.
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Brewers Have A Late-Inning Edge That Could Rattle The Dodgers
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Braves Just Lost A Veteran Arm From Their Bullpen Depth Plan
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Brewers Roster Philosophy Looks Smarter As Former Player Faces Wrong Fit
With the National League Championship Series rematch against the Dodgers on deck, the Brewers are once again looking like a club built with a clear identity. Milwaukee has long favored depth, flexibility and players who fit defined jobs over chasing the same kind of roster template everyone else is using, and that approach is part of why the team keeps showing up in October with a chance to make noise. It also makes former Brewers player Caleb Durbin an interesting measuring stick, because his game still speaks to the values Milwaukee tends to prize.
Durbin is the kind of contact-first, small-ball player who can help a lineup in the right setting, but he is not built around forcing the ball over the wall. Now he is in a different environment, where the discussion is less about leaning into what he does well and more about asking him to cover for other problems around him. For Milwaukee, it is another reminder that roster fit matters as much as raw talent, and that the Brewers way of doing business can look pretty sharp when contrasted with a club trying to make a mismatched piece serve a different purpose. [Read more 🡒]