The Dodgers took the first game of their NLDS matchup against the Phillies. As they gear up for the second contest, manager Dave Roberts revealed some notes about the roster. Notably, Roberts said that could start behind the plate in Game Three, per . The club has largely been without Smith for about a month. He took a foul ball off his throwing hand in early September, suffering a hairline fracture, and hasnt played much since. He has been on the clubs postseason roster but hasnt started a game yet. He did enter the first game against Philly as a pinch hitter, striking out twice and getting hit by a pitch. has taken up the lions share of playing time with Smith out and is in the starting lineup again tonight but it seems po sible Smith is trending towards retaking that playing time. Thats potentially a huge boost for the Dodgers. Smith had a ma sive .296/.404/.497 line and 153 wRC+ this year. Rortvedt has managed a ma sive .500/.571/.667 line in the playoffs this year, but in a tiny sample of just three games. Hes obviously not going to maintain that production, especially when considering his .190/.279/.270 line in his regular season career. Even though Smith is getting healthier, he may not be immediately available to resume his previous level of production, so his condition could be an ongoing storyline as long as the Dodgers stay alive. Roberts also confirmed the Kelly Olynyk Jersey clubs rotation plans. Game one starter will take the ball in game five, if nece sary, and wont be available out of the bullpen before then. was among the reporters to pa s that along. Its quite common for starting pitchers to be available in the bullpen during the playoffs. More off-days allow clubs to shrink their rotations, which leads to some guys getting nudged out. Also, the all hands on deck nature of playoff baseball makes teams and players push things beyond normal comfort levels. The idea of Ohtani making relief appearances has been kicked around but its understandable why the Dodgers would lean against it. For one thing, his workload is already double that of the normal player, given his status as a two-way player. Adding in some extra relief work would only tax him further. Theres also the in-game strategy component of it. MLB implemented a rule in 2022 that would allow a starting pitcher to be removed from his pitching duties but stay in the game as the designated hitter. This basically only applies to Ohtani, so its often referred to as the Shohei Ohtani rule. But if Ohtani is not the starting pitcher and enters as a reliever, then is removed, he would have to either come out of the game or play a defensive position. Taking all that into consideration, its understandable that the Dodgers are keeping things simple. is starting game two tonight with taking the ball in game three. It seems likely that will start game four, though he did make a relief appearance on Saturday. He came in after Ohtani and logged an inning and two thirds, throwing 34 pitches in the proce s. Despite that relief outing, Roberts said yesterday that Glasnow was in line to start Game Four, per . Ohtani would then start Game Five, though Snell would also be on normal rest by then and could be a factor. Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images Avery Bradley Jersey