Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia has been away from the team during the World Series because of a personal family matter, and the left-hander’s teammates had a subtle show of support for him during Game 3 on Monday night.
Dodgers pitchers had “51” — Vesia’s jersey number — written on the side of their hats for Game 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. The Dodgers won the game 6-5 in 18 innings to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series.
Both teams completely exhausted their bullpens, with a total of 17 relievers used. All of the pitchers that came out of L.A.’s bullpen had ’51’ on the side of their hats.
Every Dodgers reliever is wearing number 51 on the side of their hats tonight, which is Alex Vesia's number. Vesia is away from the team during the World Series as he his wife have been dealing with a deeply personal issue. pic.twitter.com/m0nZ0g7OKJ
— MLBFITS (@_mlbfits) October 28, 2025
The Dodgers announced last Thursday that Vesia had left the team as he and his wife navigated a “deeply personal matter.” Manager Dave Roberts has said it is unlikely that Vesia will pitch during the World Series at all. The Dodgers left Vesia off the World Series roster entirely rather than put him on the Family Emergency List so that they wouldn’t put pressure on him to return sooner than necessary.
L.A. certainly could have used Vesia on Monday night, but they managed to win the marathon game without him. Vesia posted a 3.02 ERA and 0.99 WHIP across 68 regular-season games and had not allowed a run in six straight postseason outings. He made two appearances in the wild-card series against the Cincinnati Reds, three in the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies, and two in the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Vesia went the entire postseason last year without allowing a run.
