Dodgers shutout of Padres reveals potential (and unexpected) playoff strength

Last year, the Dodgers hardly used their bullpen in the playoffs.

This year, they would like that to once again be the blueprint.

In their bid to three-peat as World Series champions, of course, the Dodgers are expected to be led by their star-studded rotation. Shohei Ohtani isn’t pitching, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are.

And if all goes according to plan, they will handle the bulk of the innings.

However, replicating the starting pitching excellence of last October won’t be easy. A season ago, the Dodgers’ four-man rotation of Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell and Glasnow accounted for 113 of the team’s 165 postseason innings (including relief appearances from Glasnow and Yamamoto). Together, they posted a 2.55 ERA.

It was historic production.

Which also means, it’s fair to assume some regression will be possible –– both in workload and effectiveness.

Thus, having more reliable bullpen options this time around could be equally important for the Dodgers. And while that might have felt like a daunting reality earlier this year, when the unit was banged up and struggling through the middle portion of the campaign, Tuesday night was a reminder that the relief corps could be a strength in this fall’s title pursuit.

“Obviously we’ve had a lot of talent over the years,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But as far as sitting here today at the end of the season, it’s as good of shape as we’ve ever been in with the bullpen.”

In a 7-0 win over the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers were not supposed to have the pitching matchup –– countering Padres ace Michael King with a makeshift bullpen game in a rivalry series opener at Dodger Stadium.

Instead, eight different Dodgers relievers held the previous red-hot Padres to a five-hit shutout. Along the way, several arms who once seemed like question marks continued to round into increasingly promising form.

“It was fantastic,” Roberts said. “This is as good as our bullpen has been, has thrown.”

It started with opener Brock Stewart, a key right-handed weapon in the Dodgers’ bullpen who began the game with a scoreless first inning, continuing his late-season resurgence after another injury-plagued year.

From there, the baton was passed on down.

Justin Wrobleski, who is in the midst of a late-season conversion to the bullpen for the second-straight year, escaped a jam in the second. Blake Treinen, who might be on the postseason roster bubble given the Dodgers’ relief depth, offered one of his best outings of late by issuing only a two-out walk in a scoreless third.

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The highlight of the night came in the fourth and fifth, when Roki Sasaki and Edwin Díaz hung a couple more zeroes in what were important appearances from each.

For Sasaki, the outing marked his first since returning from the injured list and making his own late-season move back to the bullpen, where he could reprise his role as closer from last year’s playoffs. He worked around a pair of singles with two strikeouts and a fastball that, even after being sidelined for the last month by a blister, sat at 99-100 mph.

For Díaz, Tuesday was not only a third-consecutive scoreless outing since his own return from the IL, but his most impressive yet as he makes a bid for the playoff roster. He retired the top of the Padres lineup in order with a pair of strikeouts, and has now retired 9 of 11 batters he has faced since rejoining the active roster.

Asked postgame if Díaz –– the $69 million offseason signing who lost the closer’s job amid a previously dismal debut Dodgers season –– could still pitch his way back into ninth-inning duties, Roberts said it’s “certainly possible.”

“The way he’s throwing, the ninth is possible, yes,” Roberts added.

By that point, the Dodgers had already pulled away from the Padres. They mounted a four-run rally with two outs in the second against King, who issued back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts before Freddie Freeman slashed a two-run single through the infield. The offense tacked on more runs in the fourth (on another Freeman RBI single), the sixth (on a solo home run from Tommy Edman), and the seventh (a Will Smith solo blast).

In what was the lineup’s toughest test in a while, they passed with flying colors.

Still, the night’s most encouraging developments came from the ‘pen, which capped off the game with two scoreless innings from Kyle Hurt, then stress-free appearances in the eighth and ninth from Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer.

The unit’s most trusted arms at the moment, Tanner Scott (who figures to be vying with Sasaki for the postseason closer role) and Evan Phillips, weren’t even required. Nor was Edgardo Henriquez, who remains sidelined by a back injury but still could return in time for the playoffs.

“We know we have a good group, and anytime we get to carry the load and everybody has success and throws up zeros, it’s special,” Stewart said. “That’s really hard to do, for all eight guys or whatever it was today. So yeah, it’s cool.”

With a smirk, he added: “Write stories about it.”

Come October, of course, the Dodgers will be hoping their relievers are the main story.

But if the rotation falters, the club seems significantly better-suited to handle it than it did a year ago.

“That could change in a day, in a game, as we all know,” Roberts said. “But right now, feel really good about everyone out there.”