The Dodgers are one win away from a championship and will play a bullpen game in Game 4 against the Yankees on Tuesday night. The opener and/or starting pitcher has not yet been announced by Los Angeles, but this bullpen game will be tougher than some of the previous iterations.

The Dodgers are up 3-0 in the series, and this is the middle game of potentially three straight days at Yankee Stadium. The team used six relievers to get the final 12 outs in Game 3.

Michael Kopech, Anthony Banda and Alex Vesia have each pitched in all three games of the World Series so far over a four-game span. During the regular season, the Dodgers used a pitcher just once four times in five days, with Banda coming in the final five days before the All-Star break. The left-hander has been accustomed to a heavy workload since joining the Dodgers in May.

Of course, it’s possible that Kopech, Banda and/or Vesia pitch in Game 4, since this is the World Series after all. But that would almost certainly leave them unavailable for a potential Game 5 for fear of someone getting into Brandon Morrow territory.

So I think Game 4 will prominently feature some combination of Brent Honeywell, Ben Casparius, and Landon Knack, while the chips will fall where they may, and at the very least buy a day of rest for the other dawgs in the bullpen.

But anyway, let’s take a look at where the bullpens rank in terms of usage during this World Series and exposure to the other team’s hitters.

Brusdar Graterol twice faced the Yankees’ big three of Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Blake Treinen is one Soto record appearance away from doing so. Neither left-handed Dodgers have faced Soto yet.

Ryan Brasier scored New York’s heart in the eighth inning of Game 3, striking out two in a scoreless inning. At some point, you could see a potential track where Michael Kopech could take on that trio for the first time, should the situation call for it.

The Yankees have a tall task behind them at 3-0, as they need to win four straight games to win the series, all with heavy bullpen usage.

Clay Holmes and Jake Cousins ​​are the two Yankees relievers pitching in all three games in this series.

Game 4 on Tuesday night will decide if I should write another replay of this post before Wednesday.