Dodgers bullpen usage in NLDS Game 4 elimination game

The Dodgers must win Game 4 of the National League Division Series or their season is over, and they host a bullpen game Wednesday night at Petco Park. Luckily for Los Angeles, the backup players have been a strength this season, but let's take a look at recent outings to see what Wednesday might look like.

The Dodgers have starter Landon Knack available to pitch, although Dave Roberts told reporters at Petco Park in San Diego on Tuesday night that a reliever would be the first pitcher on the mound in Game 4.

“It’s basically all hands on deck. It's a bullpen game. I see one of our helpers start.” Roberts said. “We'll sort of discuss it knowing we have Jack (Flaherty) and (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto for a possible Game 5.”

Ben Casparius, who was only added to the squad on Tuesday due to Michael Grove's shoulder injury, is also available to pitch longer if needed. But considering this is an elimination game, the Dodgers will likely look to use as many high-impact relievers as possible.

After Walker Buehler went five innings in Game 3, only three relievers pitched Tuesday, resulting in all nine batters they faced being struck out.

Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia will take all three days off in Game 4. Ryan Brasier will take a two-day break.

Michael Kopech threw one pitch in Game 3 but missed the previous two days. Daniel Hudson and Anthony Banda each pitched on Tuesday, and if they pitched on Wednesday, they would pitch three times in four days.

In this septet of high-leverage relievers, only Brasier has allowed a run, two, with that group pitching 11⅓ innings and 12 strikeouts so far in the series.

“We’re like a family down there and we care about each other,” Vesia said after recording three outs in Game 1 on Saturday.

Vesia threw a pitch in both the fifth and sixth innings of the series opener, one of four Dodgers relievers to appear in multiple innings that night. Treinen had the heaviest workload in Game 1, as he avoided jams in the eighth and ninth innings by recording the final five outs on 39 pitches, his longest outing in three years.

“I don’t care if I go one or two innings out there,” Treinen said Saturday. “Whatever I have, I will give them.”

That's been the prevailing thought in the Dodgers' bullpen this season, particularly among the relievers used in high-leverage situations. The left-handed Banda made it into that trust tree after being traded to the Dodgers in a minor league trade with the Guardians on May 19, and has led the team in games pitched and relief innings pitched since his arrival despite playing in the September after missing just over two weeks, he broke his left hand in a fit of frustration.

“The way I look at it is, whoever is in the bullpen, whoever their name is called, they're going to be ready to take on whatever they need to do. That’s kind of the environment they created down there,” Banda said in an August interview with True Blue LA. “I focus on feeling good every day, being ready, and when my number gets called, I just go out there, do my work and be ready for the next day.”

After missing nearly two entire seasons with shoulder problems, Treinen in particular had a great finish to his regular season this year, going scoreless in 15 straight games. Counting Game 1, his scoreless streak extends to 17 innings, with 21 strikeouts while only 11 batters reached base.

“In the last month or so, maybe three to five weeks, my arm is recovering great and I feel as normal as possible,” Treinen said Saturday. “Thank you to (Dr. Neal) ElAttrache and the Dodgers for sticking with me and helping me come back.”

Wednesday's bullpen represents the Dodgers' best hope of extending the series, assuming, of course, that the offense can get more than the one hit it managed in the final six innings of Game 3.