It's somewhat of a shame that the two teams with the best records in baseball are meeting in the NLDS portion of the MLB Playoffs. On the flip side, it's incredible that the Los Angeles Dodgers – San Francisco Giants series will be decided on Thursday in a one game, winner-take-all Game 5.
The Dodgers will send out Julio Urias who has been brilliant all season long. The Giants will counter with Logan Webb, who went 7.2 shutout innings in Game 1 against LA.
With the “all hands on deck” approach needed for both team, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered whether or not Max Scherzer will be available in relief, per the Los Angeles Times.
“It’s highly unlikely,” Roberts said. “The goal is still to win the World Series and have Max starting Game 1 in the NLCS, if we get there, increase that chance, but obviously I’m not immune to the fact that you don’t get there unless you win Game 5.”
It's an interesting strategy to try an play for the now and also look ahead. It's Game 5 and whoever loses won't have an NLCS to worry about. Roberts somewhat backpedaled on the initial thought of saying it's highly unlikely they would use Scherzer.
“How he feels matters because he’s still got to be effective,” Roberts said. “So, we’ll have a conversation with him, I’m sure, today, and kind of gauge it. But in no way are we going to press him and put him in a position that we don’t feel comfortable across the board.”
Scherzer last pitched in a relief outing in the postseason in 2019 for the Washington Nationals who ironically, were facing the Dodgers.
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