The Dodgers are proving that starting pitching isn’t really necessary

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced this four times this postseason. The first time, against the Padres, it was met with ridicule. The next two times in the NLCS, the Mets viewed this as an opportunity. And this last time, before Game 4 of the World Series, the Yankees had to worry.

Before the Dodgers ran their bullpen deep into October, the punch line wrote itself. That much money and this team couldn’t find a starting player in the postseason? In response, Roberts, down to three healthy rotation pieces, called his bullpen game, and the Dodgers won two of the three times.

But it was more than that: Through Tuesday, Dodgers relievers had thrown 68 2/3 innings this postseason, compared to 56 2/3 innings in the rotation. Bullpen games are nothing new – the Rays have pioneered this years ago – and heavy bullpen use is the norm these days, but seeing rookie reliever Ben Casparius (8 1/3 career innings) pitch Game 4 for a Team starts with a payroll of $241 million, it’s certainly novel.

“Who would have thought that Ben Casparius or Landon Knack would be pitching in Game 4 at Yankees Stadium?” Roberts said. “You can never predict a season like the one we went through, but there are still guys who are upright and talented.”

Despite all that, no bullpen player had thrown more than 10 cumulative innings in the last four weeks – painting a picture of a manager who used relievers like a Pokémon trainer. Is Juan Soto ready to strike? I choose you, Blake Treinen and your nasty sweeper. And aside from sticking to the three-batter minimum, Roberts has shown no compunction about shuffling the deck as often as necessary.

“What they do in terms of their game planning is they start with how good each player’s stuff is, either east, west or north, south. . . and then they adjust it to the swings of the Yankees hitters,” said Jim Duquette, a former Mets general manager and baseball analyst. “You can imitate the game planning. But I think it’s difficult because you need the staff – you need five, six people and the ability to use them often.”

The truth is, the Dodgers didn’t put it that way. They had to overcome season-ending injuries to Gavin Stone, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw. They lost Evan Phillips, one of their top relievers, in the NLCS. But their success at least makes one wonder whether similar strategies could be used on future playoff squads or even, to a lesser extent, adapted to the regular season, said former manager and MLB analyst Buck Showalter.

Showalter said depending on who is on the staff, a four-man rotation with a fifth swingman could work in your favor. However, the Dodgers have a big advantage that many others don’t: They have tons of money, so if a reliever doesn’t work out, they have the ability to find alternatives, meaning they’re more likely to get the most out of it , what they can get out of their bullpen. That’s important because a bullpen is like a chain, “and the longer the chain, the more likely it is to break,” Showalter said.

And the truth is, it’s difficult for a hitter to adjust when he sees significant differences in stuff and execution from inning to inning.

“That’s the biggest problem, why it works, but as the series goes on, the advantage goes back to the hitter because they’ve seen him a second or third time, right?” Duquette noted. “It’s certainly more of an advantage for the pitcher in the first round.”

That’s what the Yankees preached after their loss in Game 3 and before Game 4.

“I think the more you see a reliever, the more comfortable you naturally become,” Anthony Rizzo said. “You see these guys every night now. You pretty much know the guys you’re going to meet at this point in the ups and downs of the series. I feel like it’s a little harder now to see the starting pitcher than the relievers because you know how the relievers are going to attack you.”

Regardless, there is an inescapable part of this equation that has made the Dodgers so tough.

“The first thing that comes to mind is how talented the group really is,” said Gerrit Cole. “The strategy from my perspective would be to limit the looks that certain hitters give certain pitchers, play matchups, whatever, in your favor. I think the icing on the cake is that there are really a lot of good options. There doesn’t seem to be any real weakness in her approach because of her talent.”

It’s brought them here piece by piece – a tangle of weapons designed to suffocate any team in front of them.

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams. She started as an intern at Newsday in 2007.