3 Dodgers players who shouldn't make the postseason roster

With their 20-4 win over the Marlins on Sept. 19, the same day Shohei Ohtani went not only 50-50 but 51-51, the Dodgers clinched a postseason berth. It was far from surprising; the Dodgers' playoff destiny was basically set in stone from the start. While they still have the Padres to fend off, clinching does necessitate a mindset change: now is the time to get their heads in the postseason.

Rosters expanded to accommodate 28 players on Sept. 1, but they'll contract again in October and go back down to 26. The Dodgers will need to do a little bit of shaving and make a couple of roster decisions (and we're keeping our fingers crossed for no more pitching injuries), so who should we definitely not see in October?

3 Dodgers players who shouldn't make the postseason roster

Ben Casparius

Casparius is an easy first cut. He's the Dodgers' No. 23 prospect this year, but he's only gotten one inning on the mound through three promotions this season. His first stint lasted only three days, and the Dodgers kept him in the bullpen as a contingency, but he didn't get his debut. He was recalled again on Aug. 31, when he pitched one clean inning against the Diamondbacks before he was sent back down again the next day. His latest promotion on Sept. 20 came at the expense of Zach Logue, whose first two major league appearances after signing a minor-league deal with the Dodgers on Sept. 12 were pretty disastrous.

Although Casparius might factor into the Dodgers' bullpen picture more next season, it's pretty clear that he's just an interim player right now. The rest of the relief corps — led by Michael Kopech, Alex Vesia, and Daniel Hudson — is solid and should be reliable enough during the postseason. An extra bullpen arm could be nice, but probably won't be a priority for the Dodgers, especially if they want to mitigate the number of position players they need to cut.

The innings Casparius gets before the end of the regular season, if he does get any more, will be a nice audition for a place in next year's bullpen, but he shouldn't expect a big-time role in the postseason.

Bobby Miller

Miller is off of the 28-man roster already; he was demoted for the second time this year after yet another bad start against the Marlins on Sept. 17 that finally made the Dodgers see sense and send him down again. In doing so, they willingly deprived themselves of another starter, but keeping him would've them hurt more. Landon Knack has been back in the majors since Sept. 6 and became the de facto fourth postseason starter with Miller's demotion.

Now, the Dodgers just can't get any funny ideas. Although Knack struggled heavily through a Sept. 13 start against the Braves (two innings pitched, five earned runs allowed, including two homers), he had a solid five-inning outing on Sept. 18, giving up just two hits and two walks (no runs) en route to a Dodgers win. Although he's had his own ups and downs this season, has been recalled a stunning six times this year, and has much less experience than Miller, Knack is still the better bet.

Even with the Triple-A season wrapping up, Miller needs to stay there for the foreseeable future. Maybe he'll be able to impress in spring training again next year, but he shouldn't be holding out hope for an addition to the postseason roster, and the Dodgers shouldn't be keeping that door open. Whatever happened to him this season is still sort of baffling, but now is not the time for the Dodgers to exercise patience or place any false hope in him.

Chris Taylor

Although it's more likely than not that the Dodgers will also cut reliever Brent Honeywell from the bullpen when the time comes and keep as many bench options as they can, if they're going to cut a position player, it should be Taylor. Although he's been hitting a lot better as of late — .294 over his last 15 games — he's still batting .183 on the season and isn't historically a great postseason hitter, with a .248 career average.

Kiké Hernández might also be a consideration if the Dodgers are going to cut a position player, as he's batting .188 over his last 15 games, but has been marginally better as of late. Besides, he's a better postseason hitter (.274 career average) with even more experience than Taylor. Hernández was one of the Dodgers' top performers in the NLDS last year — one of only two LA hitters to get more than two hits in that series (Will Smith was the other, with five).

Taylor's been too unpredictable this season to depend on him at the plate in the highest-stakes moments of the year. Again, it's more likely that the Dodgers will tighten up the bullpen and demote Honeywell (again) before they cut a high-earning position player from the postseason roster, but that doesn't mean that Taylor should be there.