This point again feels redundant at this stage, but it’s worth repeating nonetheless, because it’s why the Dodgers are on the brink of another divisional round elimination: their starting pitching is atrocious.

The suspicions of the winter, which became legitimate fears in the regular season, have turned into an unmitigated disaster in these play-offs.

Incredibly, the problem everyone saw coming is somehow even worse than expected. In this National League Division Series, their starters have recorded a combined earned run average of 10.13. The Dodgers trail the San Diego Padres, two games to one, in the best-of-five series.

The Dodgers’ starter in their elimination game Wednesday?

To be determined.

As in, TBD.

Read more: Plaschke: It’s happening again. Dodgers are on the verge of another ugly encore in October

“I can see one of our relievers starting,” manager Dave Roberts said, because the Dodgers don’t have traditional starters healthy or competent enough to pitch at this stage. Roberts will depend on a parade of relievers to complete nine innings and extend his team’s season.

If the Dodgers force a Game 5, they will start either Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was charged with five runs in three innings in Game 1, or Jack Flaherty, who was charged with four runs in 5⅓ innings in Game 2.

“This situation is not ideal,” Roberts said.

On the other hand, the situation could be even worse. Game 3 starter Walker Buehler, the pitcher of record in Tuesday’s 6-5 loss at Petco Park, rebounded from a six-run second inning to complete five innings. Because the Padres were the home team and did not bat in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers bullpen only had to go three innings.

“Walker did a good job of keeping his composure and giving us some length and then throwing some outs (six-run inning),” Roberts said.

This ineffective starting pitching has to be assessed on a curve, and Roberts not calling on Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips, Ryan Brasier and Alex Vesia to pitch in Game 3 kept Buehler’s start from being categorized as a complete failure.

Buehler’s second inning cost the Dodgers the game, and that doesn’t count Freddie Freeman’s throw to second base that ricocheted off Manny Machado’s helmet, or Miguel Rojas’ mistake trying to beat a runner to second base instead of throwing the ball to Gavin Lux. . Until then, Buehler could be called a victim of adversity. However, he soon contributed to his own downfall.

Buehler backed David Peralta on a 1-2 count, but served him a 95.5 mph fastball inside the plate that Peralta blasted down the right field line for a two-run double.

He also backed the next batter, Jake Cronenworth, in a 1-2 count, but served him a high 97 mph fastball. Cronenworth hit the ball to Rojas’ backhand side and reached base on an infield single.

Later in the inning, Buehler had Fernando Tatis Jr. behind in the count at 0-2. Buehler threw a 90.1 mph fastball to the inside of the plate, which Tatis launched for a two-run home run that extended the Padres’ advantage to 6-1. The game was out of reach and even a grand slam by Teoscar Hernández could not completely eliminate the deficit.

“You can’t give up six points in the playoffs and expect to win,” Buehler said.

There was a time when Buehler could put hitters away with his fastball. When Buehler returned from his second Tommy John surgery this season, he lost that ability, leading the Dodgers to emphasize the importance of him reinventing himself. Yet here, in his most important start of the season, he tried to overpower his opponents, as he did earlier in his career.

“I’m not a 10, 11, 12 punchouts per nine (innings) guy like I used to be,” Buehler acknowledged. “I think going forward in my career there will definitely be some things that make me feel like I can do that. But at this point in the year, I’m trying to get people to put the ball on the floor. And I feel pretty good about a lot of the things I’ve done. Obviously the ones you’re talking about, not many of them were hitting 110 (mph), right? So you know, they found spots and created momentum. I’ve talked about the momentum in the playoffs ad nauseam, and I just couldn’t make the one throw to stop it a bit.

Only a small handful of starting pitchers have ever regained their previous level of effectiveness after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery. So how could the Dodgers count on a pitcher facing such a formidable obstacle?

Well, it’s because they figured that if Buehler didn’t return to his old form, some of their other betting bets would succeed. They were hoping Tyler Glasnow would stay healthy all season, even though that never was the case. They hoped the undersized Yamamoto would be dominant at a level he had never pitched at before. They hoped Bobby Miller would develop into an elite starter.

Their miscalculation could cost them the season.

Read more: Dodgers can’t overcome disastrous inning in NLDS Game 3 loss to Padres

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.