Dodgers’ relief takes hit as Vesia unlikely for NLCS

LOS ANGELES — Lefty reliever Alex Vesia injured an intercostal muscle and is “highly unlikely” to pitch in the National League Championship Series, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday, a major blow to a team that will continue to rely heavily on its bullpen.

Vesia recorded the final out of the seventh inning in Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Friday night but signaled for the training staff as he was warming up for the top of the eighth and came out of the game with pain in his right side. Now the Dodgers will be without a key high-leverage reliever who dominated for most of the regular season, posting a 1.76 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 66⅓ innings.

The New York Mets lean more heavily right-handed than the Dodgers’ previous opponent, the San Diego Padres. But two of the Dodgers’ more notable right-handed relievers, Joe Kelly and Brusdar Graterol, aren’t expected to recover from their respective shoulder injuries to crack the NLCS roster, either.

The Dodgers are navigating through this postseason with what amounts to a three-man rotation comprising Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler. Yamamoto, the winner in Game 5, will continue to receive an extra day of rest in between starts and thus will be an option to pitch only once in this series, likely in Game 4. The Dodgers, who are not expected to activate Tony Gonsolin for the NLCS, might have to stage two bullpen games in a best-of-seven series.

They have a lot of relievers to do it: Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Ryan Brasier and Anthony Banda, suddenly their only lefty, can all pitch in higher leverage.

But they will be one notable arm short. Landon Knack, their only other starting-pitching option at the moment, will probably have to take down some bulk innings at some point. Another option might be to activate Brent Honeywell, a 29-year-old right-hander who is nursing a cracked fingernail but has been throwing in simulated games.

“There’s certainly a possibility of a bullpen game or two,” Roberts said prior to Saturday’s workout. “But with that, we’re going to have to ask innings from other guys. That’s just the reality. I don’t think that in a seven-game series we have the luxury to max out guys like we did from the ‘pen in a five-game series.”