Dodgers Set Their Final Championship Series Roster

Dave Roberts had the task of setting the final roster for the Dodgers ahead of their first game in Milwaukee. The roster came out Friday morning and featured just one very big surprise. A good surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

Surprising choice — #Dodgers bump LHP Scott Alexander off roster for #NLCS in favor of LHP Julio Urias. That must have been some kind of sim game in Atlanta

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) October 12, 2018

The Final Roster

Starting Pitching– Walker Buehler; Rich Hill; Clayton Kershaw; Hyun-jin Ryu

Bullpen– Pedro Baez; Caleb Ferguson; Dylan Floro; Kenley Jansen; Ryan Madson; Kenta Maeda; Julio Urias; Alex Wood

Infield– Austin Barnes; Cody Bellinger; Brian Dozier; David Freese; Yasmani Grandal; Manny Machado; Max Muncy; Justin Turner

Outfield– Kike Hernández; Matt Kemp; Joc Pederson; Yasiel Puig; Chris Taylor

Notable Changes

The biggest and really only change to the roster is that Scott Alexander has been replaced by Julio Urias. Alexander made one appearance in the series with the Braves and pitched a perfect inning. He did have a shaky month of September though, so that may be where the reasoning came in. The left-handed groundball specialist had a 4.05 era in his 12 relief appearances for the month.

Urias, meanwhile, has been phenomenal in limited showings after returning from shoulder surgery. In his three appearances in 2018, he has tossed a combined four innings of work without allowing a run. In fact, he has only allowed one base hit and did not walk a batter. Urias struck out seven batters in those four appearances as well, touching the upper 90’s and turning heads. Clearly, it was enough to impress the Dodgers’ decision makers and instill enough confidence to earn him a roster spot.

Notes About the Roster

It should be noted that Andrew Toles has been added to the taxi squad and is indeed traveling with the team. Joc Pederson’s wife’s due date is next week for their first child, so Toles could potentially take over his roster spot if he needs to go on paternal leave.