Inbox: Postseason questions surrounding Dodgers

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DENVER -- It’s officially the last week of the regular season.

A lot has changed for the Dodgers and the rest of the league since the start of Spring Training. Injuries have happened. Unexpected players have stepped up. And there have been some new faces.

One thing that didn’t change, however, was the Dodgers winning the National League West. It was the 10th time in 11 seasons that the NL West ran through Los Angeles.

With seven games left in the regular season, the Dodgers’ main focus will be to get through this week with no injuries. They also realize that, as good as their regular season has been, their year will ultimately be judged by what they do starting Oct. 7 in the NLDS.

But before we get there, let’s do one last Dodgers Inbox, with an eye on the postseason. Thanks for all your questions. Here we go.

Are they going to use Lynn as a traditional starter in the 3rd or 4th spot or is he emergency only (due to the HR thing of course)? -- @achoomf1 via X

Just so everyone is on the same page, the “HR thing” refers to Lance Lynn leading the Majors with 43 homers given up this season. That’s a number that is high enough to certainly have a lot of concern in a postseason setting.

With that being said, expect Lynn to make a start in the NLDS either in Game 3 or Game 4. Clayton Kershaw will probably get Game 1 and Bobby Miller would follow in that scenario. Behind them, however, there’s a lot of unknown, but it sure looks like Lynn will get at least one bite at the apple.

Thoughts on the postseason piggybacking platoon of Sheehan and Yarbrough? It’s a “necessity” but will it continue to work? -- @Hahnapaulooza via X

In a perfect world, the Dodgers would have four traditional starters heading into the postseason. In this world, that’s not the case and the piggybacking is what the Dodgers think is best for them heading into October.

Whether it works remains to be seen. It will become increasingly interesting the deeper the team gets into the postseason because teams will get multiple looks at all their pitchers. But Emmet Sheehan and Ryan Yarbrough have showed they can be trusted in the postseason. Sheehan gives the Dodgers a lot of swing and miss potential while Yarbrough has the ability to keep offenses off-balance in an outing.

Piggybacking won’t be the only thing the Dodgers do. They’ll also go with openers whenever they can. Expect Caleb Ferguson to open for guys like Ryan Pepiot and even Lynn. Brusdar Graterol could open for a left-hander such as Yarbrough. The Dodgers have said it won’t be conventional and that might be an understatement.

I know I’m getting ahead of myself here….but who’s your pick to be the guy that needs to step up to win a 7 gamer against the Braves. AKA, who’s going to be the Eddie Rosario this year? -- @itsBrewsday via X

It’s always fun to try to predict what will happen in October. I obviously won’t pick any of the top five guys in the lineup and there are plenty of options. But I think I’ll go with Chris Taylor. He had the three-homer game back in 2021 and I could see him getting hot for a month. Taylor has some flaws in his game and the strikeout numbers will always be there, but he does have a knack of coming through in some big situations.

Could the Dodgers really have 3 rookies in the playoff roster as pitchers? -- @kbmamba11191 via X

Not only CAN the Dodgers do that, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen barring injury. Miller will get dibs at starting one of the first two games. Sheehan and Pepiot will also be on the roster barring an injury. It’s where the Dodgers are right now and they do trust their young arms to make some noise in October. We’ll see if they prove them right.

Any update on Vargas? -- @jeffgre37690342 via X

Miguel Vargas has been good in Triple-A, which isn’t a surprise given his success at that level last season. He has hit 10 homers and has a .886 OPS in 236 at bats. It’s unlikely that we’ll see Vargas at the big league level again in ‘23, but the Dodgers will give him every chance to win a spot on the Opening Day roster in ‘24. The 23-year-old could benefit from a reset to work on his mechanics this winter.