Dodgers reliever will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, manager Dave Roberts tells the L.A. beat (including ). Its a debridement procedure, added GM Brandon Gomes (relayed by ). While hes unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, the Dodgers expect him to return at some point in the first half of the 2026 season. The right-hander has been on the injured list since the middle of August. Its another hit to a bullpen that is the Dodgers biggest weakne s heading into the playoffs. has given up 11 Richard Lovelady Jersey runs in 7 1/3 innings this month. Closer has surrendered six runs over his past 7 1/3 frames. Treinen has a 5.47 earned run average on the season; Scott has allowed 4.82 earned runs per nine. has been knocked around as well, and he went down with a hamstring strain earlier in the week. has been limited to 11 innings by a trio of injuries. Hes back on the IL with knee inflammation and will at least be unavailable for the Wild Card Series. never made it back from last years shoulder surgery. underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Stewart is their seventh potential high-leverage arm who is either unavailable or not performing to expectations. It leaves the Dodgers very vulnerable late in games. Lefty has excelled for a second straight season and fourth time in the past five years. He has gotten the most high-leverage a signments and leads the team with eight holds in the second half. Fellow southpaws , and have each pitched well down the stretch. Neither Wrobleski nor Dreyer has any postseason experience. Banda to sed eight innings during L.A.s World Series run a year ago. He pitched well enough but wasnt tasked with many key situations. Theres almost no certainty from the right side. The Dodgers just after a four-month absence due to his own shoulder injury. Hell pitch in relief and is alongside as right-handed alternatives if Treinen doesnt figure it out. Their best options aside from Vesia are probably all converted starters who could go to the bullpen in October. Thatll almost certainly be role. came out of the bullpen on Wednesday in preparation for a potential relief job. has even left the door open to pitching late in games (link via ). Thats complicated by MLBs two-way player rule only applying to starting pitchers. If Ohtani begins the game as a designated hitter and then pitches out of the bullpen, the Dodgers would lose the DH. Unle s hes called in to close, thatd require them to play Ohtani in the outfield something he has done for all of 8 1/3 innings in the major leagues or lose his bat late in games. The Dodgers decided not to aggre sively attack that tenuous relief group at the trade deadline. Stewart and minor leaguer were their only bullpen pickups in July. Stewarts talent wasnt a question. The 33-year-old righty was sitting on a 2.38 ERA with a near-30% strikeout rate over 39 appearances with Minnesota. for , a strikeout-prone outfielder whod plummeted down the depth chart made sense. However, Stewarts lengthy injury history meant the Dodgers were taking a big risk by making him their only relief pickup of significance. Stewart has never reached 40 MLB innings in a season. He was shut down in June 2023 by elbow problems and battled shoulder i sues for much of last year, culminating in arthroscopic surgery. He hadnt had any arm injuries in the first half of 25, but it unfortunately didnt register as a huge surprise when he went down after four appearances following the trade. The Dodgers can transfer Stewart to the 60-day injured list if they need to open a 40-man roster spot before the end of the season. Hes playing on an $870K salary that is barely above the league minimum. Stewart will go through arbitration twice more and wont hit free agency until the end of his age-35 season. Los Angeles has clinched the NL West and the #3 seed. Theyll host the leagues final playoff team (one of the Mets, Reds or Diamondbacks) in the Wild Card Series beginning on Tuesday. If they survive that three-game set, theyre likely to match up with the Phillies in the Division Series. Francisco Mejia Jersey