Dodgers already have injury, bullpen concerns despite blowout win over Reds

The Dodgers re-signed Kiké Hernández in the final hour of the offseason because of the player he turns into in October. He has a lifetime .236 average and .708 OPS in the regular season vs. .283/.880 in 87 postseason games. He just plays better when stakes are highest, and the Dodgers leaving Michael Conforto off the Wild Card roster gave them the perfect opportunity to give Hernández daily starts.

And he was indeed in Game 1's lineup in Conforto's usual place as the starting left fielder. He went 2-for-3 in his first at-bats (both singles) before he was pulled in the bottom of the seventh and replaced by Alex Call.

It didn't necessarily have to be cause for concern. By that point, the Dodgers were up 8-2, and maybe Dave Roberts wanted to give his everyday guys a little more of a rest (though that would've been an admittedly strange thing to do in a postseason game, despite the huge lead).

However, it was reported that Hernández getting pulled was health-related; he was removed from the game with back tightness as the Dodgers continue to prove that they'll never get rid of the injury bug. After the game, Dave Roberts played down pulling Hernandez as well as Tommy Edman with a declaration that Hernandez will be play on Wednesday.

Kiké Hernández exits Dodgers' Wild Card Game 1 victory with back tightness; Dave Roberts still doesn't trust his bullpen

Even more cause for concern for LA reared its ugly head in the top of the eighth, when Dave Roberts decided to go to Alex Vesia, arguably his only trustworthy late-inning arm, instead of Tanner Scott or Blake Treinen despite the massive lead.

Vesia immediately gave up a single and then walk with one out. He needed 22 pitches to get past his third batter. Edgardo Henriquez was called in to replace him, and he walked his first batter to load the bases, walked another to let the Reds score a run, then gave up an RBI single. He threw 18 pitches.

Jack Dreyer took over and gave up another RBI walk ultimately charged to Vesia before battling with Reds' No. 7 hitter Tyler Stephenson in an 11-pitch at-bat before finally getting him to strike out. He took care of his last batter in two pitches, but he still needed 21 to get out of the inning. For those of you keeping track at home, that's three pitchers and 61 pitches to get three outs.

The Dodgers' offensive outburst was their saving grace — their collective five homers (two for Shohei Ohtani, two for Teoscar Hernández, one for Tommy Edman) set a franchise record — but all of the problems that fans became all too familiar with the during the postseason immediately made themselves known again. We'll always take a win, but it's impossible not to be worried for the rest of the postseason.

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