Injuries force Dodgers to shake up playoff roster ahead of NLCS matchup with Mets

San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers | Katelyn Mulcahy/GettyImages

After a hard fought NLDS win against the Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers were always going to shake up their playoff roster a little bit. While the Dodgers' core was going to be largely the same no matter what, the reality is that LA is very banged up at the moment and their roster choices before the NLCS would tell fans a lot about where they stand.

One change was almost a give as the description of Alex Vesia's injury strongly suggested that he was going to left off the roster. However, the fates of guys like Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas were at least somewhat less clear as well as who LA would carry to replace any and all of their walking wounded.

Well, the Dodgers announced their NLCS roster on Sunday with Vesia and Rojas being left off in exchange for veteran outfielder Kevin Kiermaier as well as RHP Brent Honeywell.

Dodgers 2024 NLCS playoff roster features a pair of notable swaps to cover for injuries

This is a notable shift over how the Dodgers handled their NLDS roster where they went with an infusion of youth, but the change was mostly out of necessity. Vesia's injury necessitated the need to add another arm especially with some bullpen games likely to be in the Dodgers' future during the NLCS against New York.

LA ultimately landed on Honeywell as that arm. Honeywell posted a very solid 2.63 ERA in 20 appearances this season and, importantly, he has the ability to throw multiple innings if needed which is extremely likely to be useful.

As for Rojas, fans have been looking for the Dodgers to replace him on the playoff roster even before there was a hint that he might not be healthy. Interestingly, LA went with Kevin Kiermaier as the next bat up which does make sense as the Mets don't have a lot of lefty arms and Kiermaier is still an excellent defensive outfielder. Some fans may have preferred Chris Taylor to get that spot, but those fans are clearly haven't watched Taylor play this year.

With that, the Dodgers' playoff roster is set ahead of their showdown with the Mets. Here's hoping that this series goes a bit more smoothly than their first round matchup for the sake of Dodgers fans' blood pressure.

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