As a surprise to absolutely no one, the Dodgers 2022 NLDS Game-1 starter remains a secret to everyone.

…well, almost everyone.

As expected, when asked (again) if his NLDS Game-1 starter would be 34-year-old future Hall of Fame left-hander Clayton Kershaw or 26-year-old 2022 National League ERA champion left-hander Julio Urías after Friday’s pre-NLDS workout and intersquad game at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was (again) evasive and kept the best-kept secret in recent Dodgers memory a secret.

However, when asked point blank if his two lefties have been told who would start Game-1 and Game-2, Roberts was not evasive.

“They have,” Roberts answered directly.

When asked who his Game-3 and Game-4 starters would be, the Dodgers skipper was also (somewhat) non-evasive.

“Obviously, one of the days we expect Tyler Anderson to start, one of the days I think we expect Tony (Gonsolin) to start,” Roberts said. “Tony is essentially going to be a bullpen game, so however we kind of want to go about that. I think some of that has to do with how we get out of Game-1 and Game-2, just kind of seeing what’s at our disposal.”

Roberts also (again) indicated that his decision to keep his Game-1 starter a secret was not opponent-based, but rather (and as we all pretty much suspected) “…a little gamesmanship.”

Taking the Kershaw/Urías best-kept secret thing up a level, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman had this to say on Friday afternoon:

“We feel like we have two exceptionally deserving pitchers who have been huge parts of our past success and are going to be big parts of what we do this October,” Friedman said. “Both are great candidates for Game-1.”

Roberts also indicated that 25-year-old Dodgers right-hander Dustin May might be available in some compacity for the Division Series, most likely out of the bullpen. May underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2021, but upon returning to action in late August, experienced lower back tightness and returned to the 15-day IL, thus ending his brief 2022 regular season.

“It started off pretty rocky, but at the end it kind of went a little better,” May told reporters on Friday. “Body is feeling really good. Back is feeling a lot better. I mean, I’m ready. I’m ready for whatever.

“It took probably six or seven days to get back to feeling kind of normal moving around. It wasn’t slow but it wasn’t fast. Now I’m back to normal. Just got to get back in the swing,” May added.

So there you have it, the Dodgers best-kept secret remains exactly that.

Play Ball!

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