The Los Angeles Dodgers finished the 2023 MLB season at 100-62, becoming the first franchise ever to record four straight 100-win campaigns (excluding strike and pandemic-shortened seasons). Reaching the century mark was not enough to earn the top seed in the National League — the 104-win Atlanta Braves are the number-one team in the NL — but Los Angeles is still the number-two seed and earned a bye to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
They will face the Arizona Diamondbacks in a best-of-five series beginning on Saturday, October 7. The big decision for the Dodgers now becomes which players it will keep on its NLDS roster. The lineup is fairly set at the moment, but manager Dave Roberts must decide whether the Dodgers carry 12 or 13 pitchers. Los Angeles has a plethora of young arms who are talented but lack experience. With so many options to choose from, here is one player that should not be on the Dodgers' final NLDS roster.
Michael Grove
It has been an inconsistent rookie season for Dodgers right-hander Michael Grove — a 2018 second-round pick out of West Virginia. Grove finished the regular season with an ERA of 6.13 across 69 big league innings, making 12 starts and six relief appearances for the Dodgers. He endured two stints in the minors as well as two trips to the injured list.
His last start for the Dodgers on July 30 against the Cincinnati Reds was a roller-coaster. Grove struck out 10 batters over six full innings but gave up eight runs on 10 hits. Since then, Grove has made four relief appearances, including three scoreless outings after coming off the IL on September 23.
Grove is unlikely to earn a spot in the postseason rotation. Clayton Kershaw and Bobby Miller are locks to start the first two games of the series while veteran Lance Lynn is certainly in the conversation. The Dodgers also have Ryan Pepiot, Emmett Sheehan, and Ryan Yarbrough. All three hurlers have been used as bulk relievers behind openers or as four-inning opener/starter hybrids themselves. Pepiot has a 2.14 ERA on the year, Sheehan has a 3.68 ERA since the team recalled him in early September, and Yarbrough had a 1.86 ERA in August before hitting a rough patch in September.
Pepiot, Sheehan, and Yarbrough all figure to be better options than Grove in a flexible starting rotation. In the bullpen, Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly, Caleb Ferguson, Ryan Brasier, and Shelby Miller are likely locks for the NLDS roster. That puts the Dodgers at 12 pitchers. LA can have a maximum of 13 pitchers on the postseason squad, leaving one possible spot for Michael Grove, Alex Vesia, or Yency Almonte.
Vesia had an ERA of 8.68 in April, but his ERA is 3.11 since June 1 as the left-hander is striking out 11 batters per nine innings, making him the likeliest candidate to earn that final spot in the bullpen should the Dodgers decide to roster 13 pitchers. Vesia and Almonte are fourth and fifth, respectively on the Dodgers in terms of relief appearances this season.
As with many of the pitchers fighting for a spot on the Dodgers NLDS roster, Michael Grove is a young, talented arm with the flexibility to function as a starter or pitch out of the bullpen. Unfortunately for him, he has performed far worse than most of the other LA hurlers hoping to pitch in the NLDS. This should keep Michael Grove off of the Dodgers' postseason roster.