Dodgers' World Series Roster Includes Huge Alex Vesia Update

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The Dodgers announced their 26-man roster for the World Series on Friday. Alex Vesia, who is away from the team dealing with a personal matter, was not included among the Dodgers' relievers.
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Right-handed reliever Ben Casparius is off the roster as well, after being included — but not appearing — in the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
In place of Casparius and Vesia, the Dodgers included right-handers Will Klein and Edgardo Henriquez in their bullpen for the series. Neither is expected to take down any high-leverage innings.
Manager Dave Roberts has extended his starting pitchers late into games to an unprecedented degree this potseason. Other than Roki Sasaki, it's unclear which of his relievers might be used in late and close situations.
That's complicated by the absence of Vesia, who is still eligible to join the roster but only as an injury replacement.
Vesia is not being placed on the family medical emergency list — a distinct possibility under the circumstances. His wife, Kayla, is expecting the couple's first child.
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Besides swapping Klein and Henriquez for Vesia and Casparius, the Dodgers' roster is unchanged from the NLCS.
No Alex Vesia, at least to start, but Will Klein and Edgardo Henriquez are on it. https://t.co/zV7iT1dlBK
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) October 24, 2025
Beyond the four starting pitchers — Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani — the bullpen consists of nine relievers. Sasaki figures to be the primary closer, but the roles for Anthony Banda, Jack Dreyer, Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan, Blake Treinen, Justin Wrobleski, Klein and Henriquez are less defined.
Hyeseong Kim, Ben Rortvedt, Alex Call, Justin Dean and Miguel Rojas figure to be on the bench, with Kiké Hernández getting the lion's share of work in left field on the heels of his outstanding start to the postseason.
In 10 games (40 plate appearances) against the Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds, Hernández is slashing .306/.375/.417.
Hernández's next postseason plate appearance will give him 300 in his career, making him the 26th player in history to reach that threshold.
The Blue Jays had arguably more suspense surrounding their roster reveal Friday. Two-time All-Star Bo Bichette, who hasn't played since September because of a knee injury, is on the roster.
Now with more Bo Bichette https://t.co/DYK1GRZIfy
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) October 24, 2025
Bichette was slashing .311/.357/.483 when he sprained his left knee on Sept. 6. He's listed as an infielder by the Blue Jays, and has even tried his hand at second base in practice, but could see more time as a designated hitter in the series.
George Springer has been the Blue Jays' designated hitter for most of the second half. His three-run home run in Game 7 of the American League Championship series lifted Toronto into the World Series, but he's been battling an injured knee himself.
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J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.
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