LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki hasn’t been officially declared the closer, but he might as well be. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Sasaki is “definitely the primary option now” in the ninth inning, but that is also contingent on his workload.
“We have to win X amount of games [to secure a championship], and he’s not going to close every game,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s workout from Dodger Stadium. “It’s just not feasible, so, you’ve got to use other guys.”
Roberts attempted to do that in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday night, deploying Blake Treinen with a three-run lead in the ninth inning. But Treinen allowed the first three batters to reach, cutting the Philadelphia Phillies’ deficit to a single run. Alex Vesia followed by facing three batters, retiring two. Sasaki then entered the game and recorded the final out in what amounted to his fifth major league relief appearance since transitioning to the bullpen in mid-September.
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The Dodgers entered the postseason with a leaky bullpen they hoped to shore up with starting pitchers, most notably Sasaki but also Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw and, at times, Tyler Glasnow. The likes of Treinen, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech — the latter two currently recovering from injuries but expected to be available for a potential National League Championship Series — were expected to anchor a dominant bullpen. All of them, to varying degrees, have fallen out of favor, but Roberts will inevitably have to trust them again at some point.
“If there’s a world where you can use five pitchers and finish a postseason and win the postseason, I think a lot of people would sign up for that,” Roberts said. “But that’s impossible. So you’ve got to use your roster at certain times and kind of pick spots where you feel best and live with whatever outcome. But that’s just the way it goes to win, for us, 13 games in October.”
In hopes of winning at least one, the Phillies, coming off back-to-back losses in Philadelphia, will turn to veteran right-hander Aaron Nola with their season on the line in Game 3 on Wednesday. Nola, 32, navigated a career-worst year in 2025, going 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA. But Phillies manager Rob Thomson will deploy lefty starter Ranger Suarez behind Nola, with Cristopher Sanchez fully rested for a potential Game 4.
Thomson said he went with Nola because of Nola’s strong finish to the regular season — eight innings of one-run ball against the Minnesota Twins — and because Nola is more comfortable starting than coming out of the bullpen. A lefty is typically a better option against the top of the Dodgers’ lineup, but the left-handed-hitting Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman have combined for a 1.056 OPS against Suarez.
“I have trust in both of them, don’t get me wrong,” Thomson said. “But Nola has pitched in some really big games for us in the last couple of years.”
Thomson said center fielder Harrison Bader, who suffered a hamstring strain in Game 1, will be a “game-time decision” on Wednesday. Bader pinch hit in the ninth inning of Game 2 and was replaced by a pinch runner after his single. Starting him as the designated hitter and putting Kyle Schwarber in the outfield is not an option.
“He’s still got to run,” Thomson said of Bader. “If he can run, he’s going to play center field.”
Dodgers catcher Will Smith, nursing a hairline fracture in his right hand, has not started any of the team’s four playoff games but has caught the final innings in each of the first two games of this series. Doing so again in Game 3 makes sense, given that the Dodgers would have the platoon advantage by starting the left-handed-hitting Ben Rortvedt against Nola and later turning to the right-handed-hitting Smith against Suarez. But Roberts said “there is hope” of Smith catching the whole game.
“I’ll make the decision tomorrow,” Roberts said. “Each day, it’s gotten better, so I feel more confident that he’ll be able to start.”
