Vesia not with Dodgers due to personal matter

TORONTO -- Alex Vesia, one of the Los Angeles Dodgers' most trusted relievers, is dealing with a personal matter that has placed his World Series availability in doubt.

As part of a statement on Thursday, the Dodgers wrote that Vesia "is away from the team as he and his wife Kayla navigate a deeply personal family matter."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't provide additional details while addressing the media moments later, though he added that the team is "going through the process of trying to backfill his spot on the roster" ahead of a matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays.

World Series rosters must be turned in by 10 a.m. ET on Friday, the day of Game 1 from Rogers Centre. But Major League Baseball also has a family medical emergency list that requires a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven days off the roster. If the Dodgers utilize that designation with Vesia, he could technically return as early as Game 3 from Dodger Stadium.

Vesia was one of few bright spots on a beleaguered bullpen this season, posting a 3.02 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP with 80 strikeouts and 22 walks in 59 2/3 innings. And throughout the playoffs, Vesia, a 29-year-old left-hander in his sixth season, has been Roberts' most trusted late-game option outside of right-hander Blake Treinen and starter-turned-closer Roki Sasaki.

Vesia's absence could create an opening for Tanner Scott, the veteran lefty who struggled through the first season of a four-year, $72 million contract. Scott was taken off the roster in the middle of the National League Division Series after having to undergo a lower body abscess incision, a move that ruled him out for the ensuing NL Championship Series. But Scott has since resumed throwing bullpens and said earlier this week that he feels "a lot better now."

Another lefty, Anthony Banda, has also re-emerged as a reliable late-game weapon. But most of the Blue Jays' best hitters -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Ernie Clement and Alejandro Kirk in particular -- swing right-handed, making the likes of Sasaki, Treinen and Emmet Sheehan all the more important in this series.

Roberts said Thursday that the Dodgers will carry Clayton Kershaw on their World Series roster and added that they'll "most likely" pitch Tyler Glasnow in Game 3 and Shohei Ohtani in Game 4 (following Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Games 1 and 2, respectively). But Roberts remained vague on Vesia's situation.

"Honestly," he said, "I think we're just going day-to-day with really no expectations."