LOS ANGELES – Left guard Alex Vesia has injured an intercostal muscle and is “highly unlikely” to appear in the National League Championship Series, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday, a major blow for a team which will continue to rely heavily on its bullpen.

Vesia recorded the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Friday night, but reported to the training staff during warmups for the bottom of the eighth inning and left the game with pain in his right side. Now the Dodgers will be without a key high-leverage reliever who dominated most of the regular season, posting a 1.76 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 66⅓ innings.

The New York Mets lean more towards right-handed hitters than the Dodgers’ previous opponent, the San Diego Padres. But two of the Dodgers’ best-known right-handers, Joe Kelly and Brusdar Graterol, aren’t expected to recover from their respective shoulder injuries to make the NLCS roster.

The Dodgers are heading into this postseason with a three-man rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty, who will take the ball in Game 1. Yamamoto, the winning pitcher in Game 5 of the NLDS, will continue to receive an extra day of rest between starts and therefore have the opportunity to pitch just once in this series, likely in Game 4. The Dodgers, of whom not expected If they activate Tony Gonsolin for the NLCS, they may have to play two bullpen games in a best-of-seven series.

But they have plenty of backup players: Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Ryan Brasier and Anthony Banda, suddenly their only left-hander, can all use higher leverage.

But they will be a significant arm short. Landon Knack, currently their only other starting pitching option, will likely need to work some bulk innings at some point. Another option could be to activate Brent Honeywell, a 29-year-old right-hander who has a broken fingernail but has played simulated games.

“There’s certainly a chance for a bullpen game or two,” Roberts said before Saturday’s practice. “But with that we have to query the innings of other players. That’s just the reality. I don’t think we have the luxury in a seven-game series to overwhelm the players like we did from the start in a five-game series.”