Projecting the Dodgers' NLDS roster with Josue De Paula, bench shuffle

The Los Angeles Dodgers get to kick back and watch as eight teams duke it out to move on to their respective League Division Series this week. The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies will go head-to-head in the NL Wild Card Series before one of them moves on to try and topple LA.

One would think that this Dodgers team would have everything buttoned up well ahead of the NLDS, but there are still a couple of key questions to be answered.

Projecting the Dodgers' NLDS roster with Josue De Paula called upon

Catchers (2): Will Smith, Hunter Feduccia

For some reason, the Dodgers decided to carry three catchers on their Wild Card and NLDS rosters last year — Smith, Dalton Rushing, and Ben Rortvedt — but adjusted ahead of the NLCS by shedding Rushing, who received just one at-bat in the NLDS but otherwise rode the bench.

Rortvedt didn't get a start or even substitution after Game 2 of the NLDS with Smith slowly coming back from injury at the beginning of the postseason. Feduccia figures to play a similar break-glass-in-case-of-emergency role. As a lefty, he could get a start and then an early pull depending on matchups but, barring disaster, it's mostly going to be Smith's show.

Designated hitters (2): Shohei Ohtani, Josue De Paula

The Dodgers clearly want to find a way to bring De Paula with them in October, even if only as a lingering threat on their bench. They're reportedly not entertaining putting him in the outfield at all, and it's not hard to see why. Even if they're confident they'll be able to fix his defense in time, they can't afford any leakage in the postseason.

Ohtani is still shaking off the cobwebs from his 15-day IL stint. He picked up a few hits with promising exit velocity in his return against the San Diego Padres and later against the San Francisco Giants, but there are still question marks around what version of him we might see this postseason.

Infielders (6): Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas, Kiké Hernández

A notable exclusion here is Hyeseong Kim. Although he's in the running to get a spot on the bench and exclusively come into games to pinch-run or for reassurances on defense, there's still a chance he doesn't make the roster if the Dodgers are set on carrying 13 pitchers. Edman and Hernández, though lacking the same speed as Kim, can still offer the same defensive versatility.

Outfielders (3): Andy Pages, Kyle Tucker, Teoscar Hernández

Pages might've found himself in the same boat as Ohtani, but he announced his return to the Dodgers after a month-long IL stint in a big way, hitting .333 with a 1.180 OPS, two homers, and five RBI against the Padres and Giants. No doubt Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Alex Call will be the odd man out. He was on all four of LA's playoff rosters last year and received sporadic appearances throughout the month, but that was when Michael Conforto was still on the payroll. Tucker and Hernández have certainly had their ups-and-downs this season, but the Dodgers would never seriously consider leaving them out.

Starters (4): Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tarik Skubal, Tyler Glasnow

There's not much to say about what's probably the best rotation going into the postseason. Snell and Glasnow have both battled injury this season but came back when the Dodgers needed them most. It might be too much to ask that any of Yamamoto, Snell, or Glasnow replicate their dominance from last year, but they'll certainly try.

Relievers: (9): Tanner Scott, Roki Sasaki, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart, Justin Wrobleski, Edwin Díaz, Kris Bubic, Edgardo Henriquez

Just like 2025, this is where things get dicey. The Dodgers' bullpen isn't quite as banged up or as unreliable as they were last year, but they're not the air-tight, bulletproof coterie that their combined salaries suggest they should be. Henriquez will be coming straight off of the IL to rejoin the team in the NLDS, and Díaz, Sasaki, and Scott are all woefully unpredictable.

There is some thought that the Dodgers might carry eight relievers instead of nine, to free up a spot on the position player side for a guy like Kim. In this scenario, we'll stick with them taking nine. If not, Bubic is the most obvious cut. Last one in, first one out.

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