Dodgers might've fooled the world with their bullpen about-face in 2025 postseason

Last postseason, the Dodgers' rotation was whittled down to almost nothing, and the bullpen was tasked with picking up most of the slack. This year, LA does technically have a full slate of relievers they could turn to, but they're depending on their starters to take them as deep as possible into games because their bullpen has been so awful.

Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, and Alex Vesia aren't to be trusted, and the latter two proved that on Monday night against the Phillies, when Treinen gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth to put the Phillies down by just a run. Vesia couldn't do much cleaning up behind him, so the Dodgers opted for Roki Sasaki with very little warmup time to get the last out. Scott hasn't pitched at all so far this series.

Sasaki is the key element here. After just two relief appearances in the regular season, he collected his first two career saves in Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS and made his postseason debut in Game 2 of the Wild Card with a stunning ninth inning against the Reds.

Treinen and Vesia proved they can't be trusted, Scott already isn't trusted — but the Dodgers have Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw, and even Tyler Glasnow (who got the ball behind Shohei Ohtani in Game 1) to pick up the slack.

Dodgers' postseason bullpen being bailed out by Roki Sasaki, Clayton Kershaw, and more starters put in relief roles

The Dodgers' overflow of starting pitchers has become their saving grace, so maybe Andrew Friedman's overkill in the offseason actually did work out very nicely for them (though the money they still owe Scott and Treinen might eventually go down as a pock on Friedman's resumé).

Glasnow is still expected to pitch a start at some point during the postseason, but it won't be until the NLCS if Yoshinobu Yamamoto can wrap up the DS with a sweep at home.

We haven't seen Anthony Banda yet this postseason, and Jack Dreyer got just 2/3 of an inning against the Reds in Game 1 (with the Dodgers already up 10-4). Edgardo Henriquez and Justin Wrobleski were both booted in the transition from the Wild Card to the DS, after Henriquez earned himself an infinite ERA in Game 1 and Wrobleski didn't get a turn at all.

Sasaki, Sheehan, Kershaw, and occasionally Glasnow still isn't a long-term fix, but Sasaki has looked absolutely dominant as LA's new de facto closer, we have yet to see what Kershaw might be capable of in relief this year, and Dodgers starters have all pitched past six innings in every game so far. As long as Dave Roberts stops placing unwavering faith in Treinen and Vesia, the Dodgers might be bulletproof.