Andre Ethier will be on Dodgers’ NLDS roster

The Dodgers at the very least will have an experienced veteran off the bench in the National League Division Series, with Andre Ethier making the NLDS roster, manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Sunday in San Francisco.

Ethier missed the first 140 games of the season after fouling a ball off his leg and fracturing his right tibia in spring training. He is just 4-for-23 (.174) since his return, but hit a home run and a double last weekend.

Roberts has praised the quality of Ethier’s at-bats since his return.

Ethier has only played four games in left field, including two starts, though his last start was Sept. 15. He has played two games and 8... total innings in the outfield in the last 15 games, but has appeared as a pinch hitter 11 times since his return, so his role seems pretty well defined.

With 35 career playoff games, Ethier ranks 13th all-time in Dodgers history.

As for the rest of the roster, Roberts has dropped some other hints, such as Andrew Toles making it. But the final composition, including the split of position players and pitchers, hasn’t been finalized.

“There’s a few, three or four spots that we still have to talk through,” Roberts told reporters today, per J.P. Hoornstra of the LA Daily News.

Roberts also mentioned Charlie Culberson, 9-for-23 (.391) with a double and a walk-off division-clinching home run since September 1, is also “in the mix” for a spot on the NLDS roster.

The Dodgers must submit their NLDS roster to MLB on Friday morning at 7 a.m. PT.