Dodgers OF Edwin Rios isn’t on the NLDS roster because of an injury he suffered over the weekend.
Dodgers fans, set to embrace the most well-rounded playoff roster they’ve had in several years ahead of their NLDS battle with the Padres, were dealt a somewhat surprising blow on Tuesday morning.
Off the roster for the next round? Catching prospect Keibert Ruiz, for one, which makes sense. The Dodgers aren’t the only team to jettison a third catcher once the road got a bit tougher.
Surprisingly, though, versatile outfielder Edwin Rios was left at home, which made very little sense, at first blush. When you can add theorized 2020 Rookie of the Year contender Gavin Lux, you do it, sure, but Dylan Floro appearing as pitching depth at Rios’ expense instead of Matt Beaty’s? It didn’t make much sense.
That’s why it was necessary for insider Jorge Castillo to follow up with the clarifying punch.
Rios hurt himself during Sunday’s pre-series workout, and the unspecified injury would’ve kept him out for the one-week duration of the series regardless.
So that’s that.
On the year, the 26-year-old Rios rocked eight homers and knocked in 17 runs while striking out 18 times in 76 at-bats. That’s a significant amount of bench thump (you may remember his destruction of the Astros) that, theoretically, would’ve been worth more than the occasional Terrance Gore pinch-running appearance (sorry, Terrance!).
However, this mystery solved itself very quickly, even though we still don’t know the particulars of what happened at Globe Life Field in Arlington, and likely won’t until it becomes necessary to reassess for a potential future NLCS series.
There’s too much of a challenge ahead of the Dodgers in the form of a hard-charging Padres team to worry about that now, though, and while Rios would’ve been a nice luxury in late-and-close games, it wasn’t going to be possible.
Shrug it off and think positively, LA. The road to redemption resumes again tonight with a roster you can be proud of.
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