Editorials

Updated: Predicting the Dodgers’ 25-Man 2013 Postseason Roster

With hours remaining before the Dodgers are required to announce their postseason roster, I’ve revised my predictions for who makes the team.

The big changes center around the health of Matt Kemp (who was healthy when I made my initial predictions) and Andre Ethier, who is still a mystery.



With that said, here is my new prediction (changes are in italics):

Catchers (2)

AJ Ellis

Tim Federowicz

Infielders (6)

Mark Ellis

Adrian Gonzalez

Nick Punto

Hanley Ramirez

Juan Uribe

Michael Young

Outfielders (4)

Carl Crawford

Andre Ethier

Matt Kemp

Scott Van Slyke

Skip Schumaker

Yasiel Puig

Starting Pitchers (4)

Zack Greinke

Clayton Kershaw

Ricky Nolasco

Hyun-Jin Ryu

Bullpen (8)

Brian Wilson

Kenley Jansen

Paco Rodriguez

JP Howell

Ronald Belisario

Chris Capuano

Carlos Marmol

Brandon League

Chris Withrow

The only change on the bench was swapping Kemp with Van Slyke, which I think is a fairly safe bet to give the Dodgers a fourth healthy outfielder. On the pitching side, I’ve gone with Withrow over League.

I was never a fan of League to begin with, but just figured they’d take him anyways — I’m starting to doubt that though with how well Marmol and Withrow have been pitching lately.

I think they’ll keep Ethier on the roster as a pinch-hitter, regardless of how well he can run. In reality, I wouldn’t expect to see him playing the field at any point in this series, but I’d take an immobile Ethier over someone like Jerry Hairston Jr. any day off the bench.

The biggest omission is Dee Gordon — a guy I think could be a game-changer as a runner. Whether they’d trust him in the field or to hit, however, is what ultimately could keep him off the roster. One good sign for Gordon is their interest in testing him out in center field, however, because it shows they’re doing what they can to justify his inclusion.

I think it comes down to Marmol, Withrow and Gordon — with two of the three making the team. In the first round, the Dodgers could probably afford to play with one less reliever, but we’ll see what Mattingly decides.

What do you think? Marmol or Withrow or Gordon?

Keep in mind that the roster can change should the Dodgers make it past the first round, but then again, lets not get ahead of ourselves…

__________________________________________________________________________________________

In case you missed it, here’s the latest on Andre Ethier’s injured ankle/shin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KogAcerJqaQ

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

2 Comments

  1. No Marmol, add Hairston. 11 pitchers are enough. Hairston can play multiple positions. Defense!

  2. I think you are pretty close, Jeff, but, they will only carry seven pitchers. Out of Marmol, Cupuano and Withrow, I would expect Marmol, for sure, and Withrow, only because Capuano did not look good in the two one inning assignments he had the last few days. No doubt, they would rather have Capuano as a long reliever, but, he has not pitched well in quite some time.

    The extra spot (without eight pitchers) will go to Hairston or Gordon, possibly Hairston AND Gordon, if they leave off Van Slyke, which they could decide to do since Hairston can play outfield.

    While I think Eithier will make the roster, he could be a liability if he can not run the bases. Using him as a pinch hitter would require a total of two or three bench players, should he get on. For example, lets say he pinch hits for Schumaker and gets on. They put Gordon in to run for him and then they would need to bring in Hairston to play outfield for Gordon! In that example, they have just used three players off their bench. I think they will give Ethier the spot if they think he will be able to play outfield by game 3, otherwise, maybe not. They need Gordon for his speed.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button