Dodgers punt, preserve best relievers for Game 5
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — As Game 4 evolved and the margin shrank, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was confronted with an interesting choice — the type one hardly confronts in the high-stakes environment of a World Series. One was to use his best relievers in hopes his offense might come all the way back, giving the Dodgers the best possible opportunity to clinch a title. The other was to essentially punt, utilizing lower-leverage relievers to save his best arms for another day.
Roberts clearly chose the latter approach in Tuesday’s 11-4 loss to the New York Yankees. The hope — with his team still up 3-1 and a win away from a championship — is that it will pay off in the very near future.
“It’s challenging,” Roberts said. “I think you’ve got to be certain that you can score some runs. Certainly any guy we use tonight would have not been able to pitch tomorrow.”
The Dodgers burned through six high-leverage relievers who combined to throw 100 pitches in Monday’s Game 3. It earned them a victory that provided a commanding lead in this best-of-seven series, but it severely compromised the bullpen game that would be staged 24 hours later.
The Dodgers used unheralded Ben Casparius and Landon Knack to tackle six of Game 4’s first seven innings, during which they gave up only two runs. When the eighth inning arrived, L.A. trailed by two. But rather than pluck from his group of high-leverage arms — fronted by Blake Treinen, who warmed up in Game 3 but did not pitch — Roberts handed the ball to Brent Honeywell, a long reliever who did yeoman’s work by bailing out the bullpen in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series but is nonetheless low in the pecking order.
Honeywell proceeded to give up five runs, turning Game 4 into a rout.
Asked if it was tempting to chase a victory in that situation, Roberts said: “No. Not 6-4 in the eighth it wasn’t. No.”
The Dodgers’ bullpen limits first presented themselves much earlier. Freddie Freeman had once again provided an early lead for L.A. with a two-run homer in the first inning to set a record by hitting a home run in six consecutive World Series games dating to 2021, when he was with the Atlanta Braves. But the Yankees tacked on a run in the second and went off for four more in the third against Daniel Hudson, the only high-leverage reliever the Dodgers wound up using in Game 4.
Hudson, who also threw 22 pitches in Game 3, plunked Aaron Judge, gave up a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr., walked Giancarlo Stanton and, after getting Anthony Rizzo to pop up for the second out, was tagged for a grand slam by Anthony Volpe, giving the Yankees a 5-2 lead. That third inning, Roberts said, was Hudson’s to take down, regardless of how it went.
“That was his inning,” Roberts said. “I think he was at 20 pitches, something like that. He had Volpe up, so I’m not going to get somebody in the third inning to get Volpe when he just popped a guy up.”
The Dodgers successfully used a bullpen game to keep their season alive in Game 4 of the NL Division Series then again to clinch a pennant in Game 6 of the NLCS. But it also backfired in Game 2 of the NLCS and in Game 4 of this round. They’re now done with that. If the World Series extends far enough to return to Los Angeles, the Dodgers will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto set to take the ball in Game 6 and Walker Buehler in line to start a winner-take-all Game 7.
Before that, for Game 5 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night, it’ll be Jack Flaherty against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. But Flaherty will have help. Treinen, who has been used for four or more outs four times in this postseason, will be four days removed from his last appearance. Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda, Ryan Brasier and Michael Kopech will be available after a day off, with another one to follow, if needed.
The Dodgers essentially lost one game in hopes it will help them win another.
“We knew it was a bullpen game,” Roberts said. “As far as outcomes — to have six guys in your pen that are feeling good, rested, I feel good about that. And being up 3-1.”
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Jeff Passan
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Jeff Passan
Senior MLB Insider
- ESPN MLB insider
Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” -
Jesse Rogers
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Jesse Rogers
ESPN Staff Writer
- Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
Right-hander Justin Verlander and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a one-year, $15 million contract, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, continuing the future Hall of Famer’s career at age 42 in one of the pitcher-friendliest stadiums in baseball.
Verlander, entering his 20th major league season, is considered perhaps the best pitcher of his generation, with the most innings pitched, strikeouts and wins among active players. A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Verlander is coming off the worst season of his career and joins a Giants team likewise looking for better results than 2024. The deal is pending a physical.
Shoulder and neck injuries limited Verlander to 17 starts, and over his last seven he posted an 8.10 ERA. With a falling strikeout rate and climbing home run rate, Verlander began to show signs of aging after a career in which he seemed impervious to it.
After a dominant 13-year stretch with the Detroit Tigers, Verlander found a second life after joining the Houston Astros in 2017. He won Cy Youngs in 2019 and 2022 — and after the latter signed a two-year, $86.6 million contract with the New York Mets. Verlander spent 16 starts with the Mets before being traded back to the Astros in August 2023.
Over his career, Verlander is 262-147 with a 3.30 ERA over 3,415⅔ innings. He has struck out 3,416 batters, walked 952 and won a pair of World Series with the Astros.
Returning to Houston wasn’t an option for 2025. With Oracle Park a dream for pitchers, Verlander gravitated toward the Giants, whose rotation includes right-hander Logan Webb, left-handers Robbie Ray and Kyle Harrison, and a number of other options for the fifth spot, with right-hander Hayden Birdsong seen as the likeliest candidate.
The Giants had spent a month with limited action before signing Verlander. A month ago to the day, they agreed with shortstop Willy Adames on a seven-year, $182 million contract.
San Francisco, which hired former star catcher Buster Posey as its president of baseball operations in September, went 80-82 last season and finished in fourth place in the National League West, which is arguably the best division in baseball.
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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
Northern Illinois will join the Mountain West as a football-only member in 2026, the school and conference announced Tuesday.
“What a great opportunity for NIU Athletics as we expand our horizons, adapt to this new national model of college athletics and prepare to start a new chapter in the history of NIU Football,” NIU athletic director Sean T. Frazier said in a statement.
In addition to NIU, the Mountain West will include Air Force, Hawai’i, UNLV, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State and Wyoming in 2026.
The move is another fallen domino in college sports’ ongoing conference realignment process that caught up to the Mountain West in the fall, when Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State announced they were leaving for the new-look Pac-12, which collapsed in 2023.
“We are excited about adding Northern Illinois football to the Mountain West,” commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “In evaluating NIU, the MW Board of Directors and Directors of Athletics carefully considered and were impressed by its history of football success and its commitment to academic excellence.”
It is unclear what conference NIU’s remaining sports will compete in once it moves to the Mountain West for football. The school said it will continue discussions with the Mid-American Conference — where it has participated since 1997 — but will also review opportunities in “several of the regionally based multi-sport conferences.”
The Mountain West also recently announced the additions of Grand Canyon and UC Davis for sports other than football (Grand Canyon does not have football; Davis will remain at the FCS level).
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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
Georgia added another potential playmaker to its receiving corps on Tuesday, as former Texas A&M standout Noah Thomas committed to play for the Bulldogs in 2025.
Thomas, who has one season of eligibility remaining, led the Aggies with 39 catches for 574 yards and eight touchdowns this past season.
On Sunday, the Bulldogs added former USC receiver/kick returner Zachariah Branch, who was the No. 9 overall player and No. 4 receiver in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings. He had 1,863 all-purpose yards with the Trojans in two seasons and returned two kickoffs for scores in 2023.
At 6-foot-6, Thomas gives the Bulldogs a much-needed target in the red zone, which they were lacking this past season. His best performance came in a 43-41 loss in four overtimes at Auburn on Nov. 23, with five catches for 124 yards with two scores. He had six receptions for 109 yards and one score in a 21-17 victory over Arkansas on Sept. 28.
Earlier Tuesday, receiver Dillon Bell announced that he’ll return to Georgia for one more season. The junior had 43 catches for 466 yards with four touchdowns in 2024.
The Bulldogs are expected to lose their top two receivers: Dominic Lovett, who has exhausted his eligibility, and Arian Smith, who announced he’s forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Receiver Anthony Evans III also entered the transfer portal.
The Bulldogs led all FBS teams with 36 receiver drops this season, according to ESPN Research.
Georgia also landed two safeties from the transfer portal on Tuesday: Miami’s Jaden Harris and UAB’s Adrian Maddox, who had committed to Florida on Sunday. Harris started 13 games for the Hurricanes this past season and had 40 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 1 interception.
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