Ahead of game 5 of the NLDS against the Washington Nationals, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about what we were all expecting. He’s emptying the bullpen in a must win.
Dave Roberts said all pitchers are available to pitch tomorrow.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) October 8, 2019
We already knew the plan would start with fireballing ace Walker Buehler and follow up with Clayton Kershaw at any point out of the bullpen. Now we know that Doc is ready to call on anyone in almost any situation. Where fans have pause is in the tough series stats for lefty Julio Urias, and righties Pedro Baez and Joe Kelly.
The three have combined to allow 6 earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched (10.13 ERA). The true lights-out arms from the ‘pen have been mid-season pick up Adam Kolarek, and starter-turned-reliever Kenta Maeda who haven’t been scored upon in 4.2 IP.
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen has been neutralized in this series, appearing only once in 4 games. Importantly, he tossed a scoreless inning while recording 2 strikeouts.
One name that you may be hard pressed to find in the game — even though he told Roberts he’s available — is Hyun-Jin Ryu. Wednesday would mark only 3 days since Ryu started game 3, and that stress is not something the front office is necessarily open to add to his surgically repair shoulder.
Roberts added “it’s highly unlikely” Hyun-Jin Ryu pitches tomorrow but he’s available.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) October 8, 2019
For everything you need to know about game 5, please check this post out.
