MILWAUKEE — Dodgers made only one small amendment to their composition for National League Championship Seriesannouncing before Monday's first game the 26-man group, which included an extra pitcher, Ben Caspariusinstead of the third catcher, Dalton Rushing.
Dodgers coach Dave Roberts indicated that the Dodgers would likely add a pitcher for the NLCS, which is a best-of-seven round with two days off.
In Casparius, they did this with a right-hander who could pitch multiple innings at once (he bounced between the rotation and bullpen earlier this year) and was used as an option against heavy right-handers in opposing lineups.
Kasparius, a 26-year-old newcomer who played a supporting role in last year's postseason run to the World Series, became one of the Dodgers' biggest success stories in the first half of the season. Over his first 20 appearances (all but one came in relief, including 14 going beyond one inning), he had a 2.54 ERA, a .194 batting average against and 44 strikeouts to just seven walks.
His performance was so impressive that the Dodgers eventually inserted him into the rotation in early June.
However, from that point on, his season began to turn around.
In his five starts as a starter or pinch hitter, Kasparius had an 8.24 ERA and gave up six home runs (19â…” innings); all the while, the Dodgers believed could potentially throw his pitches onto the mound.
He eventually returned to a strict reserve role, but appeared to run out of gas on the stretch, compiling a 4.50 ERA from July 9 to September 5 before being demoted to Triple-A.
Although Kasparius hasn't played in the majors since then, his time in the majors seems to have helped. He returned to dominating as a right winger. He gave just two tries in five outings. And he was there again for the Dodgers in each of the first two rounds of the playoffs, when the team had just 11 pitchers (not counting the two-way player). Shohei Ohtani) due to the shorter series.
The addition of Kasparius meant the Dodgers had to cut someone from their group of position players. They did this by cutting Rushing from the lineup, and the team no longer needed three catchers in the NLCS thanks to Will Smith's recovery from a broken hand.
Rushing, a former prospect who had a difficult rookie season, was largely irrelevant in the first two rounds of the playoffs, getting just one hit at bat in the bottom of Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies last week.
Removing Rush leaves the Dodgers with one less left-handed bat on the bench, especially after they decided to keep Justin Dean and Hyesung Kim (defensive and base-running specialists) on the roster instead of outfielder Michael Conforto (who would have been a more legitimate candidate in the NLCS, given that the Milwaukee Brewers have more right-handed pitchers).
But the Dodgers decided to largely stick with the group that got them this far, adding an extra arm ahead of the best-of-seven showdown that represents the next step in defending their World Series title.
