Dodgers Playing Very Short Staffed in Milwaukee Finale

After the Dodgers got just 1 inning out of Noah Syndergaard last night, the bullpen is in a less than ideal spot. Seven relievers covered 8 innings in the 6-2 win over the Brewers and, with that, manager Dave Roberts said his options are pretty thin today.

Roberts said Brusdar Graterol, Victor Gonzalez, and Shelby Miller are unavailable today and that the team would “really like to stay away from” Evan Phillips. Presumably, Phil Bickford is on that list as well after pitching on consecutive days. Justin Bruihl threw 25 pitches on Tuesday.

The only pitcher the Dodgers didn’t use yesterday was Wander Suero, but he hasn’t exactly been great in his return to the big leagues this season. Roberts was asked why the team didn’t explore making any moves before the day game after the night game and he alluded to timing and roster restrictions as reasons.

On timing, the team wouldn’t have been able to get anyone to Milwaukee in time and with enough time to settle in and potentially be effective. They already made a mistake this season with Jake Reed who they absolutely ruined last month in Chicago. On the roster restrictions, there’s no one on the 40 man roster they could actually call up.

As for the good news, Clayton Kershaw is Wednesday’s starting pitcher and has gone at least 6 innings in six of his seven starts this season. If Kersh is able to provide 7 innings, the Dodgers would be in a great spot heading into Thursday’s off day.