The Los Angeles Dodgers locked up the third seed in the National League after clinching the division for the fourth-straight season on Thursday. Los Angeles is set to play in the Wild Card round beginning September 30. The team will host the winner of the final NL Wild Card berth – either the Cincinnati Reds or the New York Mets. In the meantime, the Dodgers are using their regular season-ending series against the Seattle Mariners to prepare for the playoffs.
Los Angeles will enter the postseason with an abundance of starting pitchers. But the team only needs a three-man rotation for the best-of-three Wild Card round. LA's other starters will either be left off the roster or used out of the bullpen. And manager Dave Roberts is busy evaluating potential relievers during the Mariners series.
Tyler Glasnow is a candidate for the starter-turned-relief-pitcher role. The 10th-year veteran drew the start against Seattle on Saturday. But he was limited to three innings of work and 36 pitches as Roberts is considering using Glasnow out of the bullpen during the NLWC series, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
Tyler Glasnow auditions for playoff relief role
While the Dodgers’ rotation dominated down the stretch the team’s bullpen faltered. Setup man Blake Treinen and closer Tanner Scott have consistently struggled in big spots during LA’s playoff push.
The relievers’ inconsistencies caused Roberts to use Roki Sasaki out of the bullpen in his return from a lengthy injury absence. Sasaki has excelled in the role and appears to have earned a place on the postseason roster.
Roberts also revealed that Emmet Sheehan will pitch out of the bullpen in the playoffs. The second-year righty filled in nicely as a starter while the Dodgers’ rotation was banged up. But Los Angeles will lean on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Shohei Ohtani when the postseason begins.
Glasnow pitched well in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Mariners. He allowed three hits and one walk while striking out three batters in three scoreless innings. The performance may have earned the former All-Star a spot on LA’s playoff roster. But the competition for a relief role on the team is suddenly stiff.
Treinen, Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez set a franchise record by striking out nine-straight batters to close Saturday’s game. Treinen allowed a leadoff single in the seventh inning but then started the string of strikeouts. All nine Mariners went down swinging.
