Dodgers going with bullpen game again with chance to close out NLCS

LOS ANGELES — When the Dodgers reported for spring training eight months ago, they had just committed a half billion dollars to three starting pitchers – Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and James Paxton. They anticipated the return from injury of Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and maybe even Dustin May at some point during the season. And there were a handful of well-regarded pitching prospects (led by Emmett Sheehan, River Ryan and Gavin Stone) on the horizon.

If you had told Manager Dave Roberts at that point, that he would be resorting to a bullpen game in order to reach the World Series, he would not have believed you.

“I would have taken the other side on that one,” Roberts said Saturday as the Dodgers prepared for Game 6 of their National League Championship Series with the New York Mets.

Up three games to two in the best-of-seven series, they will try to close out the series with their third bullpen game of this postseason.

It worked to perfection in Game 4 of their NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres. Eight relievers combined on a seven-hit shutout, part of a record-tying streak of 33 consecutive scoreless innings this postseason.

It didn’t work as well in Game 2 of this NLCS. The Mets scored six runs in the first two innings against Ryan Brasier and Landon Knack and the Dodgers lost, 7-3.

“I think I’ve always felt that a bullpen game gives you a really good chance to prevent runs,” Roberts said. “There’s a cost afterward. You’re talking about regular-season games typically. … The offense scoring matters too. But I think in a vacuum, bullpen games give you a chance, in a vacuum, to prevent runs, certainly. I still stand by that.”

A key difference between Game 4 against the Padres and Game 2 against the Mets was the availability of Alex Vesia. The left-hander pitched against the Padres but is not on the NLCS roster due to a rib injury.

With Vesia out and Daniel Hudson unavailable due to a sore knee, Roberts had to try and squeeze multiple innings out of Knack in Game 2 against the Mets. That’s where the game got away from the Dodgers.

Roberts said he can be “a little bit more aggressive” with his relievers in Game 6. Michael Kopech and Evan Phillips have pitched just once in this series, no other reliever more than twice. Along with being well-rested, they have not faced the same Mets hitters repeatedly. That combination could allow Roberts to extend some relievers to one-plus innings, minimizing the need for someone like Knack or Ben Casparius to take down multiple innings.

The Game 4 experience against the Padres will give the bullpen a rallying point this time around, Phillips said.

“I suppose doing it at that time on a big stage like that in an elimination game, it shows that we’re braced to do it at any point,” he said. “I think we’ve kind of built up that confidence and that equity in bullpen games over the course of the past few seasons. Really my whole time as a Dodger, bullpen games are a piece of how we run things here. We’re certainly excited about the opportunity to have a piece in it tomorrow.”

NOT ALL HANDS

Roberts described the pitching plan for Game 6 as “all hands on deck.” But it’s not really all hands. He said Yamamoto will not be asked to pitch out of the bullpen between starts and Buehler will be held back for Game 7, if necessary.

And Roberts was asked Saturday if Shohei Ohtani was an option to pitch.

“He is not,” Roberts said. “Thanks for asking.”

FREEMAN STATUS

After Game 5 in New York, Roberts suggested that he might bench All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman for Game 6. Freeman is 1 for his past 15 and hasn’t had an extra-base hit during the postseason. Roberts said Friday that he felt Freeman’s injured ankle was affecting his swing.

Roberts backed off on that somewhat Saturday, saying he expects Freeman to play in Game 6, even though the Mets are starting left-hander Sean Manaea.

“I’m just going to go talk to him, just check in where he’s at,” Roberts said Saturday. “But I’m not going to make a decision today, I don’t think we need to. And then we’ll just kind of come in tomorrow and see where he’s at.”

A hobbled Freeman has not been able to produce much for the Dodgers. But saying his efforts to play at far from full strength are hurting the team doesn’t take in the whole picture, Roberts said.

“I think that one component, if you’re looking at the results of the last handful of at-bats, you could argue that point,” Roberts said. “But I could also argue that him doing whatever he can to be on the field and to post, I think, speaks loudly in that clubhouse.

“So then the decision is, net-sum, what makes the most sense to win tomorrow. And that’s the decision we’ll make together. But I’m not going to compromise his health or certainly winning a game tomorrow if he’s not mentally and/or physically ready to go.”

ALSO

Will Smith was hit in the left hand while catching during Game 5. That’s why he was pinch-hit for, Roberts said. Tests were negative and Smith is expected to be in the starting lineup for Game 6.