Two More Bodies Down, Same Thin Bench

Teoscar Hernández's wall collision and Miguel Rojas going day-to-day with his back are the kind of October footnotes that turn into chapter headings. Neither is confirmed serious yet, but the Dodgers don't have a lot of margin for "let's wait and see." Seven players are already on the injured list, most of them on the 60-day, and the depth chart behind Hernández in left runs to Alex Call and Ryan Ward — serviceable, not alarming, but Call is also the team's primary right-field backup and has been doing real work in 38 games this season.

Rojas is the trickier one. He shows up at shortstop, second base, and third base in the depth chart, which makes him one of the few true utility pieces the team can actually deploy. Lose him for any stretch and the infield flexibility shrinks fast, particularly behind Mookie Betts at short and Max Muncy at third — a 36-year-old already flagged as a succession question.

The Dodgers are 7-3 over their last 10 and playing their best baseball of the year. That part is real. But this roster has been held together with roster creativity all season, and two more bodies in the trainer's room, even minor ones, is a reminder that the margin is still thin. Worth watching the next few days to see what the team says about both players before making too much of it.