Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tells Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times that left-hander Clayton Kershaw will not be on the club’s wild-card roster. The veteran southpaw is starting Sunday’s game and it will be a normal start for him. The Dodgers recalled right-hander Landon Knack to give them a fresh arm, with left-hander Andrew Heaney optioned out as the corresponding move.
The decision on Kershaw makes sense given the short series, as they wouldn’t need him to make a start in the best-of-three. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell will likely take the ball for the first two contests. Tyler Glasnow started Saturday but only went three innings. He should be plenty rested for Thursday’s Game 3, if necessary. Shohei Ohtani could also be a factor, depending on how the Dodgers want to use him.
The Dodgers have experimented with Kershaw as a reliever recently, as he tossed a relief inning on Wednesday. However, Kershaw lacks the top-end velocity that teams generally like to have coming out of the bullpen. His fastball averaged 90.4 miles per hour during that appearance out of the bullpen on Wednesday. Even with the Dodger bullpen scuffling in recent weeks, they seemingly prefer to go with their typical relievers instead of having Kershaw convert to a pen role.
Since the Dodgers don’t plan on using Kershaw in the wild-card round, they can have him absorb as many innings as possible Sunday in a meaningless game, as they have already been locked into the No. 3 seed in the National League. It’s also meaningless for the Mariners, who are locked into the No. 2 seed in the American League.
The Dodgers presumably hope to have Kershaw and Knack cover as much of the game as possible. They have an off-day Monday before the playoffs begin, so they could perhaps have some relievers get limited work on Sunday. Kershaw should get more consideration for a spot on the NLDS roster, if the Dodgers advance.
