With October on the horizon, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning World Series champion, still have a lot to sort out. In particular, the Dodgers have to worry about their bullpen troubles when some of their big-money relievers have not been playing up to par. On Wednesday, the Dodgers may have given a sneak peek into their plans for the postseason after re-introducing the legendary Clayton Kershaw, who already made the final start of his career, as a late-game bullpen arm.
The Dodgers deployed Kershaw in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 4-4 ballgame against the Diamondbacks, and Kershaw did not disappoint. He sat down all three batters he faced, as pointed out by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, and he induced weak contact from his first two batters before Ketel Marte gave a scare with a deep flyball to right field to end the inning.
Considering how in flux the Dodgers' bullpen is, it will not be a surprise at all to see manager Dave Roberts go to one of his most trusted arms to help them close out games when October comes around.
In the calendar month of September thus far, the Dodgers bullpen ERA of 5.69 heading into their Wednesday night clash against the Arizona Diamondbacks ranks 26th in MLB during that span. The likes of Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, and Kirby Yates have all been crapping the bed to various degrees, and Roberts' trust in his bullpen has been declining all year.
Kershaw took it upon himself to volunteer for bullpen duties, and it looks like this is a role that will stick for the foreseeable future especially when he did throw a spotless inning in an important win over the Diamondbacks.
Dodgers inch closer to NL West crown
The Dodgers have endured their fair share of slumps in 2025. But they have to thank their lucky stars that the San Diego Padres have been unable to capitalize. With a record of 89-69 with four games remaining in the regular season, the Dodgers need to win just one more game to earn their 12th NL West title in 13 years.
While getting a bye to the NLDS is impossible at this point, securing homefield advantage in the Wild Card series will be important. The Dodgers, if the season were to end today, will be facing the Mets in the Wild Card series in a rematch of last year's NLCS.
