The Dodgers made only one small tweak to their roster for the National League Championship Series, announcing a 26-man group before Game 1 on Monday that included an extra pitcher, Ben Casparius, in place of a third catcher, Dalton Rushing.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had indicated the Dodgers would likely add a pitcher for the NLCS, which is a best-of-seven round with only two off days.
In Casparius, they did so with a right-hander capable of pitching multiple innings at a time (he bounced between the rotation and bullpen earlier this year) and being used as an option against right-handed-heavy parts of an opposing lineup.
Casparius, a 26-year-old rookie who played a minor role in last year’s postseason’s run to a World Series, became one of the Dodgers’ biggest success stories during the first half of the season. Over his first 20 appearances (all but one of which came in relief, and included 14 that went beyond one inning), he had a 2.54 ERA, a .194 batting average against, and 44 strikeouts to only seven walks.
Read more: Shaikin: Why ‘Average Joe’ Brewers beating big-market Dodgers would be good for baseball
His production was so impressive, the Dodgers eventually moved him into the rotation in early June.
From then on, however, his season started to turn.
In his five outings as a starter or bulk-man following an opener, Casparius had an 8.24 ERA and gave up six home runs 19 ⅔ innings; all while at times, the Dodgers believed, potentially tipping his pitches on the mound.
Eventually, he returned to a strictly relief role, but appeared to run out gas down the stretch, posing a 4.50 ERA from July 9 to Sept. 5 before being demoted to triple-A.
Although Casparius has not been back in the majors since then, his time in the minors seemed to help. He got back to dominating right-handed hitters. He gave just two runs in five outings. And he has been back around the Dodgers during each of the first two rounds of the playoffs, when the team carried only 11 pitchers (not including two-way player Shohei Ohtani) because of the shorter series.
Adding Casparius meant the Dodgers had to trim someone from their position player group. They did that by taking Rushing off the roster, with the team no longer needing three catchers in the NLCS thanks to Will Smith’s recovery from a fractured hand.
Rushing, a former top prospect who had a difficult rookie season, was largely a non-factor in the first two rounds of the playoffs, getting just one pinch-hit at-bat at the end of a Game 3 blowout against the Philadelphia Phillies last week.
Removing Rushing does leave the Dodgers with one less left-handed bat on the bench, especially after they elected to keep Justin Dean and Hyeseong Kim (who are defensive and base-running specialists) on the roster over outfielder Michael Conforto (who would have been a more legitimate candidate for the NLCS given the Milwaukee Brewers’ more right-handed-heavy pitching staff).
But the Dodgers decided to largely stick with the group that has gotten them this far, adding an extra arm ahead of a best-of-seven showdown that represents the next step in their World Series title defense.
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Read the full article here