LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers included catcher Will Smith, who's dealing with a hairline fracture in his right hand, on their 26-man roster for the NL Wild Card Series against the Reds. The best-of-three set begins on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Smith's status for the beginning of the postseason was in question. He took a foul tip off his right hand on Sept. 3 in Pittsburgh and made it into one game before ultimately going on the 10-day injured list. After Smith took a necessary step forward by facing live pitching on Monday, he showed enough improvement that the Dodgers were confident in him being at least a pinch-hit option.
"The hitting, the throwing, he feels really good about. So I think it's a day-to-day thing," manager Dave Roberts said. "I'm not closing the door that he's not going to start tomorrow. But I do feel that the floor of having him available to hit in any big spot, it was certainly worth having him on the roster."
Los Angeles also had decisions to make in the bullpen. One day before rosters were finalized, Roberts shared that rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki was expected to be part of the postseason bullpen. Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan were also set to shift from the rotation to the 'pen for this series, while Clayton Kershaw was left off because he made a full start on Sunday.
In addition to Sasaki, Glasnow and Sheehan, the Dodgers rounded out their Wild Card Series bullpen with Jack Dreyer, Edgardo Henriquez, Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia and Justin Wrobleski. They opted to carry 11 pitchers -- not including Shohei Ohtani, who does not count because of his two-way player status -- in order to have room for three catchers and an extra outfielder in Justin Dean, who made the cut over Michael Conforto because of his speed and defense.
Lefty reliever Anthony Banda was also left off the roster because the Reds have a right-handed-heavy group of position players, so there would be limited opportunities with four other lefties (Dreyer, Scott, Wrobleski and Vesia) on the roster. Roberts said Banda would likely be active if the Dodgers advance to the NL Division Series.