Dodgers make bold decision on closer role for rest of postseason

The Los Angeles Dodgers will play a decisive Game 3 of the National League Division Series at home on Wednesday. If they beat the Philadelphia Phillies, they will advance to the National League Championship Series for the second time in two seasons. 

After getting great starting pitching from Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell, the bullpen has finally become a well-oiled machine, pitching 6.0 innings and allowing eight hits, three earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts in the first two games of the series. Finding their groove, every member of the bullpen appears to have their own role, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seemingly allowing that to happen and designating Roki Sasaki as his "primary" closer. 

Dodgers have their closure moving forward

Moving forward for the rest of their series with the Phillies and throughout the playoffs (if they advance), Roberts officially announced that Sasaki will be the one who gets the ball in the ninth inning, stating he's "definitely the primary option," according to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. Roberts said that Sasaki "won't close every game," meaning others will fill in when he's down. 

"There’s a component that, we still have to win X amount more games," Roberts said to Harris. "And he’s not gonna close every game. It’s just not feasible. So you’ve got to use other guys. But if it makes sense, he’ll definitely be finishing games."