It only took Wild Card for Kiké Hernández, Ben Rortvedt to banish these 2 Dodgers

The Dodgers had a scare in Game 1 of the Wild Card series, when Kiké Hernández was removed from the game in the bottom of the seventh with back tightness. It turned out to be minor, because he was right back in the lineup for Game 2, posted up in left field.

Also in both lineups was Ben Rortvedt, who's been an absolute revelation for the Dodgers since being called up in early September.

Hernández's October prowess might be the thing that got him re-signed this season, and he got to work immediately. Before being taken out of Game 1, he had two singles; in Game 2, he had a single and an RBI double. Rortvedt has had a very similar offensive performance — an RBI single in Game 1, then a single and a double in Game 2.

Both players have made almost air-tight arguments for themselves to be everyday pieces through the rest of the Dodgers' postseason run, and it's pretty clear who's not going to make it onto the NLDS roster accordingly.

Dodgers fans will be more than happy to continue not seeing Michael Conforto's name on that list, but rookie Dalton Rushing might be at home through the rest of the month too.

Kiké Hernández, Ben Rortvedt have basically ended Michael Conforto, Dalton Rushing's postseasons for Dodgers

As soon as Dodgers fans realized that Conforto wasn't on the Wild Card roster, it also become pretty clear that we should expect to see Hernández in the starting lineup in some capacity for the duration of their postseason. Hernández's regular season performance matters very little to the Dodgers when he can get to October and do what he's best at.

LA carried three catchers into the postseason — Rortvedt, Will Smith, and Dalton Rushing — but with Smith newly off the IL, they wanted to give him a few extra days before coming back. They could've given Rushing one start and Rortvedt another, but Rortvedt has so quickly worked his way into the Dodgers' good books that they opted for the veteran instead of the former No. 1 prospect.

Rortvedt's performance could prompt the Dodgers to leave Rushing off of the NLDS roster and add another pitcher (they only brought 12 into the Wild Card), or add Esteury Ruiz for some more speed and outfield defense.

It just speaks to how Rortvedt has made the most of a whirlwind month, and he may even be writing his ticket onto next year's roster because of it.