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Dodgers News: Setting Postseason Roster No Easy Task For Mattingly

[new_royalslider id=”46″] Including Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers have two regular-season games remaining and then won’t play until Oct. 3 when they host Game 1 of the NLDS. They’re still waiting to see who their opponent will be as the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are separated by just one game in the NL Central.

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After concluding their season Sunday, manager Don Mattingly and the coaches will continue to work on assembling the Dodgers’ postseason roster. Prior to Friday’s win, Mattingly indicated nothing had been settled, via Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

Our roster is definitely not decided. I’m having discussions … kind of dragging out here a little bit. Kind of going over different scenarios, things the coaching staff was able to talk about.”

Mattingly added he’ll meet with general manager Ned Colletti and the different schools of thought will be blended together:

I want to share that with (general manager) Ned (Colletti) and his group so they can kind of mull over some of our thoughts. They have their own thoughts, also. As we get into the week here, we’ll mold that together.”

One of the issues at hand is Hyun-Jin Ryu’s recovery from irritation in his throwing shoulder. While still somewhat limited, Ryu threw from a mound Friday and the hope is he can progress to a normal bullpen session followed by a simulated game.

Along with that, Mattingly is said to be mulling over carrying 11 or 12 pitchers, and of course selecting which players to carry on the bench. Justin Turner’s play has essentially made him a lock, Scott Van Slyke likely holds a spot to give the Dodgers’ a counter to left-handed pitching.

However, after that is largely unknown. Andre Ethier presumably will make the cut, but it shouldn’t necessarily be considered a given. Furthermore, the Dodgers have a surplus of infielders, with Darwin Barney stating his case in the last few games.

For comparison’s sake, the Dodgers carried 11 pitchers and 14 position players on their postseason roster for both the NLDS and NLCS last season. Should the Dodgers advance, Mattingly would be allowed to reset his roster prior to the NLCS beginning.

Staff Writer

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