The Los Angeles Dodgers took care of business at home during the Wild Card round, in the process of sweeping the Cincinnati Reds to set up the NLDS series everyone in baseball wants to see.

The team hit the road on Thursday — heading east for a major showdown with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Wild Card roster had a few surprises on it that nobody saw coming. Will the group versus Philadelphia be identical, or will manager Dave Roberts opt to change it up? Is Anthony Banda and/or Michael Conforto coming back onto the active roster?

We try to best piece together the ideal 26-man group that could be seen in what should be a highly competitive series featuring two juggernaut squads.

Position Players

DH: Shohei Ohtani

Ohtani will look to continue his torrid postseason start after going 3-for-9 with two homers and four runs batted-in during the Wild Card round.

C: Will Smith, Dalton Rushing, Ben Rortvedt

Having a third catcher on the roster does give the Dodgers some real flexibility. Smith by all accounts will try to set up shop behind the plate. With the trickiness of a bone issue in the hand, no one really knows whether a full game behind the plate could have an adverse impact on his ability to not only catch but also throw.

Having Smith even as an elite pinch hitter off the bench is a must. Rushing also stays on the roster due to his ability to slug as a left-handed bench option. Rortvedt has been rock-solid filling in for the All-Star catcher.

INF: Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas

INF/OF: Kiké Hernández, Hyeseong Kim, Tommy Edman

OF: Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernandez, Alex Call

Justin Dean was a surprise entry on the Wild Card roster. He was subbed on to be a defensive replacement in centerfield in both games. In his one opportunity to make a play in Game 1, Dean dove for a ball he probably would’ve expected to catch. It deflected off his hand for what amounted to be a base hit.

With Dean being practically a zero at the plate, if he’s not absolutely excellent defensively in center, there’s really no need for him on this roster even with Tommy Edman nursing a bulky ankle.

Call does remain on the roster due to his ability to hit lefties. Philadelphia has a host of very good left-handed pitchers. He can grind out at-bats, play decent-to-good defense in the outfield, and also provide the team with some speed. He and Kim figure to give the outfield cover while Pages and the Hernandezes man the other spots.

As was the case in the Wild Card round, Conforto will be left off the roster.

Pitchers

SP: Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow

With Ohtani expected to go in Game 1, it’ll be interesting to see how Game 2 shakes out. There’s a real world where if the Dodgers win the first contest, Glasnow will go in Game 2. The home/away splits for Snell seems to indicate a real preference in the lefty taking the ball in Game 3 back at Dodger Stadiium. Yamamoto would surely pitch in a Game 4 situation.

Should LA lose Game 1, Snell will be on regular rest and could very well pitch Game 2 regardless of the result. This would then push Glasnow back as a long reliever/multiple innings option out of the ‘pen.

At the very least, the rotation seems to be in a very good spot moving forward.

Relievers: Blake Treinen, Roki Sasaki, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda, Ben Casparius, Emmet Sheehan, Tanner Scott, Justin Wrobleski, Clayton Kershaw

There are a few tough calls within this group. Chief among them is keeping Edgardo Henriquez off this roster. The stuff is undeniable given he’s one of the hardest-throwing relievers in the sport.

Having said that, his control has been a major issue. It reared its ugly head against the Reds in the Game 1 of the Wild Card round. Philadelphia’s lineup is considerably better, and with Henriquez striking out far less bats than one would think given his velocity, there’s real doubt as to whether he’d be effective versus the Phillies.

Banda gets the nod over Henriquez given the fact left-handed hitters are hitting .153 off him on the year. One can see Banda in the middle innings when having to face the tandem of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

On the other side of the equation, if the team is sacrificing velocity for effectiveness with Banda instituted, the opposite line of thinking comes with keeping Wrobleski on the team with Dreyer coming off of it. Wrobleski in comparison has better pure stuff, and is a guy who can take down multiple innings. His swing-and-miss ability surpasses Dreyer’s — and with Kershaw coming on, Dreyer isn’t really needed.

While he didn’t feature in the Wild Card round, Scott surely will get his chances versus a lineup with some true left-handed boppers. The question will be when Scott receives those opportunities. The odds are they’ll be in lower leverage spots.

Casparius also enters the fold having been tinkering in Triple-A for some time. He has the experience pitching in the postseason, and as Sasaki has recently shown, we’ve seen what a reset stint down in the minor leagues can do for a young pitcher.