Dodgers decide that Takashi Saito won't be closer against Phillies

"There's a probably a good chance of that happening," Saito said. "I would never tell the team that I don't want to be on the roster. The decision is theirs. If they judge that I can't help the team in this series, I'm fine with that."

Although Saito was promised the closer's role in the playoffs, with the former all-star still struggling to refine his mechanics after missing two months with a shoulder problem, Manager Joe Torre appears comfortable using hard-throwing Jonathan Broxton to save games. In Saito's absence, Broxton saved 14 games in 17 chances with a 2.76 ERA.

"The way Broxton pitched the other day, he certainly embraced the opportunity," Torre said of the pitcher, who appeared in all three games of the NL division series against Chicago, pitching 3 1/3 hitless innings and earning a save.

After the rest of the Dodgers had left Citizens Bank Park after Thursday's afternoon practice, Saito went back to the bullpen for a second long workout in which, under the watch of Torre and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, he tried to work out the kinks in his delivery, pitching solely out of a stretch.

"Physically he's fine," Honeycutt said of Saito, who gave up two runs without retiring a batter in his only playoff outing against the Cubs. "There's maybe some issue in his mechanics, which is very understandable in his situation, coming back. You'd like the consistency in his mechanics."

The Dodgers have until 10 o'clock Thursday morning to set their roster for the NLCS, and Saito said Torre told him he wanted to take his time going over his options. If Saito is left off, the Dodgers would probably give his spot to left-hander Hong-Chin Kuo, who has pitched just three times since August. Kuo, however, would give the Dodgers an additional lefty in the bullpen to use against the Phillies' potent left-hand bats.

Even if Saito is not on the roster for the Phillies series, he can be added to the team for the World Series if the Dodgers advance. But if he is on the roster to start the series and then is removed because of injury, he would be ineligible for the World Series.

"If they're going to make a decision, I'd rather they make it quickly," said Saito, who was 4-4 with 18 saves in 45 games this season. What Joe told me was that [my] presence on the team is so important that they want to talk about it until the morning."

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com