Leaning on bullpen in NLCS won’t be as easy for Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — Before bad blood spiced up the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, there were the Dodgers and the New York Mets.

In Game 2 of their NLDS in 2015, Chase Utley’s takeout slide of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in the seventh inning left Tejada with a fractured right fibula. Utley was suspended for the next two games in New York. MLB implemented new slide rules prohibiting the kind of rolling takeout slide that injured Tejada – known as the “Utley Rule.”

Already a villain from his days with the Philadelphia Phillies, Utley was roundly booed during pre-game introductions before Game 3 at Citi Field. The Dodgers lost that series but Tejada’s injury was not forgotten by the Mets. The following season when the Dodgers returned to Citi Field, Noah Syndergaard threw a pitch behind Utley, leading to Syndergaard and then Mets manager Terry Collins being ejected.

When Harvard-Westlake graduate Jack Flaherty was asked for his most prominent memories of attending games at Dodger Stadium while growing up, that NLDS came to mind.

“The game that sticks out happens to be – it was 2015 against the Mets when Chase went into Rubén Tejada hard,” said Flaherty who had just finished his second season as a professional in the St. Louis Cardinals’ system and recalled coming to Games 1 and 2 with his younger brother. “I think I was at both of those games. And watching Syndergaard and (Jacob) deGrom throw. Those are special arms.

“I remember those playoff games. Those were a lot of fun.”

This time around, Flaherty will start Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against the Mets at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night. He will be the first man up in a series that is likely to feature a good deal of “bullpenning.”

With just three starting pitchers – rookie right-hander Landon Knack is not likely to start a game, though he will be on the active roster – the Dodgers could go with a bullpen game as early as Game 2, going with the all-hands approach in the day game before the travel day and pushing Walker Buehler back to Game 3 at Citi Field.

By starting Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 5 against the Padres, he will not be available before Game 4 of the NLCS and will make just one start in the best-of-seven series. The Dodgers have given him at least five days off before all of his starts this season, trying best to approximate the once-a-week schedule he used while playing in Japan.

“It’s one of those things for Yamamoto versus any other starter – their regular routine is their regular routine and any deviation would be short rest,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He hasn’t done that. So I think, to your point, we’ll probably keep him on track.”

Flaherty, Yamamoto and Buehler combined for 18⅓ innings in the NLDS, leaving 25⅔ for the bullpen. The relievers handled their share brilliantly, taking down 19 scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ three victories over the Padres – including a seven-hit shutout in a bullpen game while facing elimination in Game 4.

“There’s certainly a possibility of a bullpen game or two (in the NLCS),” Roberts said. “But with that we’re going to have to ask innings from other guys. That’s just the reality. I don’t think that in a seven-game series we have the luxury to max out guys like we did from the ’pen in a five-game series.”

Unlike the best-of-five NLDS, the longer NLCS includes games on three consecutive days, making it problematic to work the same relievers each game – and making a bullpen game more likely before one of the travel days.

“We know that the postseason runs through the bullpen,” right-hander Evan Phillips said after the NLDS win. “Through all the ups and downs throughout the year, we know we’re building toward this moment.”

Alex Vesia has been a big part of that bullpen throughout the regular season (a 1.76 ERA in team-leading 67 appearances) and the NLDS (three scoreless innings). But Roberts acknowledged Saturday that it is “highly unlikely” Vesia will be on the NLCS roster. He suffered an intercostal injury during his Game 5 appearance against the Padres.

The Dodgers’ pitching decisions in the NLDS relied heavily on that bullpen group and Roberts said “it couldn’t have gone any better” than it did. The series ended with the Dodgers holding the Padres scoreless over the final 24 innings.

“Those guys really stepped up and just did everything and more than we could have hoped for,” Roberts said. “To shut that team out for 24 straight innings is near impossible. And we did it in really fine fashion.

“I just don’t see that playing out again in a seven-game series. I’ve got to lean on other guys to cover some innings, and/or expecting a little bit more out of the starters.”

That begins on Sunday with Flaherty who has not been at his best over the past few weeks. In his final three regular-season starts and Game 2 of the NLDS, he has allowed 14 runs in 19⅓ innings.

“I think I’ve just been trying to do a little too much,” said Flaherty, whose fastball velocity dropped off in a couple of those regular-season starts. “Just from here going forward, don’t try to be perfect and go out and pitch my game and let the results happen, but focus on the process and the days in between and making sure that I’m just mentally locked in and focused, not trying to do too much.”