The Dodgers arrived in St. Louis yesterday and after holding their first workout, Don Mattingly and his staff announced their 25-man roster for the NLCS this morning. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny announced yesterday that he’ll keep the same roster from the NLDS, while the Dodgers made some changes.
Chris Capuano and Paco Rodriguez were left off the roster in favor of Carlos Marmol and Edinson Volquez, as both moves come as a bit of a shock. Capuano pitched three shutout innings in Game 3 against the Braves and while he’s been struggling of late, Paco has been there all season long.
Here’s the entire roster for the NLCS:
PITCHERS (11)
Clayton Kershaw
Zack Greinke
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Ricky Nolasco
Kenley Jansen
Brian Wilson
Ronald Belisario
Carlos Marmol
Chris Withrow
Edinson Volquez
J.P. Howell
CATCHERS (2)
A.J. Ellis
Tim Federowicz
INFIELDERS (7)
Adrian Gonzalez
Michael Young
Hanley Ramirez
Mark Ellis
Juan Uribe
Dee Gordon
Nick Punto
OUTFIELDERS (5)
Andre Ethier
Carl Crawford
Yasiel Puig
Skip Schumaker
Scott Van Slyke
The position players remained the same with the one question remaining: will Andre Ethier start tonight? Dee Gordon was kept as a pinch-running option, but I’m not so sure that’s tied to Ethier’s status.
Again, the pitching aspect of the roster is most questionable as the Cardinals have struggled all season long against lefties, but the staff decided to get rid of two. At his press conference on Wednesday, Don Mattingly didn’t let on that Paco was injured, but there’s no argument he’s been overworked.
Back in June, nobody could’ve envisioned the Dodgers NLCS roster with Marmol and Volquez, but now it’s their time to contribute as the series gets underway tonight.
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In case you missed it, here’s the home run that sent the Dodgers to the NLCS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJgp8vkSa3k
Mattingly has obviously got the people skills to lead, but his technical decisions with regards to roster management and substitutions just consistently fall short.
the gm and mattingly mk the roster not just mattingly
I cannot grasp these pitching moves whatsoever. Marmol and Volquez? Seriously??
I REALLY hope this doesn’t come back and bite Mattingly in the ass.
Marmol has been solid since he came over to us, but I will never understand Volquez. He has shown us absolutely nothing! I would take Cappy or Paco over Volquez any day. Not to mention Belisario’s struggles as of late too. Not a huge fan of these moves, but let’s just hope the standard rotation can pull it out. Go Dodgers!
I would have kept Capuano and Paco….let Volquez and Belisario sit.
Mattingly you mess up Volquez for Paco I don’t think so , Young I don’t really think he has what it takes even if he has been in other series , you are going to regret it when it comes to Volquez I am sure ….