SAN FRANCISCO -- When Blake Snell took the mound for the final time in the regular season on Saturday afternoon, he eased any lingering concerns the Dodgers may have had after the southpaw exited his previous start with left groin tightness.
The Dodgers wanted to see Snell make close to a full start in order to feel good about him taking the ball going forward, but they weren't going to push him. So Snell's outing was finished after he had thrown four innings on 77 pitches (50 strikes), allowing one run on five hits while striking out three Giants.
"There's a balance between getting your work in, making sure you feel good coming out of it," manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers' 4-3 win at Oracle Park, their 99th of the season.
Snell's status had been the primary concern surrounding L.A.'s daunting four-man postseason rotation that also features Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Tyler Glasnow. Now that Snell has made his final regular-season tuneup, the main question for the Dodgers is how to line up their starting four for the NL Division Series, which begins on Oct. 3 at Dodger Stadium.
There is a compelling case for each of those four starters to be the ace in any given rotation in the Majors. The Dodgers feel good about any of them making a Game 1 start, so the decision essentially comes down to how they can get the most out of their starting four.
"To be honest with you," Roberts said, "you could put them all in a hat, and you could make a case for any order you put them in."
One consideration is rest. The Dodgers ran a six-man rotation for most of this season, meaning their starters are accustomed to five days' rest. Yamamoto has not started a game on less rest than that -- although he did pitch on back-to-back days to clinch MVP honors in last year's World Series. Skubal, Snell and Glasnow all have experience pitching on four days' rest.
Here's what that could mean for the NLDS, when the Dodgers can reset their rotation to their liking: Yamamoto starting Game 1 would allow him to start a potential Game 5 on his usual rest. Skubal, Snell or Glasnow could start Game 2, then be available for a potential Game 5 on four days' rest.