They are the mammoth-market team that left the historic reliever off their roster. Ran out of time in rehabbing the veteran lefty for the pen. Had just enough clock to heal a couple of key late-inning arms. And began the postseason with no set order in who would get the ball and when.

Yeah, definitely sounds like the Yankees. And it checks all the boxes.

But this also is the dominant 111-win Dodgers. In many ways it is the whole playoffs. The most common concern expressed about the Yankees entering these playoffs revolved around their battered and unsettled pen. Except just about every team still standing has a relief corps that is battered and/or unsettled.

You think Buck Showalter was the only veteran manager bemoaning the lack of a qualified lefty reliever? Dusty Baker has been incredulous that his AL-best Astros never solved the issue. They traded for 2021 Braves postseason hero Will Smith and left him off the roster for the AL Division Series against the Mariners.

The Mariners? They have one of the deepest, quality pens in the game. Still, in the moment of truth to eliminate the Blue Jays in the wild-card round, manager Scott Servais turned to a starter, George Kirby, in part because he has used his closer, Paul Sewald, in the fifth inning. In the Division Series opener, Servais didn’t trust a wobbly Sewald to complete the ninth inning and brought in another starter, Robbie Ray, who served up a walk-off, three-run homer to Yordan Alvarez.

Crazy injuries? The Astros left Phil Maton off their roster. He broke a bone in his finger punching a locker after a performance last week in which he allowed a hit to his brother, Nick. David Robertson was left off the Phillies roster after suffering a calf injury jumping up and down celebrating Bryce Harper’s homer in the wild-card clincher against the Cardinals. That assured that Zach Eflin, who had never relieved regularly before going into the pen Sept. 14, was now Philadelphia’s closer.

You get the picture. This is not just the Yankees. Yeah, the Yanks found out this week Scott Effross needs Tommy John surgery and is gone. The same as the Braves did with another 2021 World Series hero, Tyler Matzek.

Fittingly — since they are the Yankees’ West Coast doppelganger — the Dodgers mirror many Yankee bullpen matters. Craig Kimbrel is their historic, Aroldis Chapman-like closer — though the reasons for his Division Series absence were limited to being tattooed on the field. Like the Yanks with Zack Britton, the Dodgers could never get lefty Danny Duffy all the way back to health to help in the postseason and they left lefty David Price off the Division Series roster, too.

Daniel Hudson was going to be as important to the Dodger pen as, say, Michael King, but tore his ACL in June and was lost for the season. Blake Treinen is on the Division Series roster despite finishing the regular season on the IL, just like Clay Holmes and Wandy Peralta.

Evan Phillips, who in the span of two weeks in August 2021 was released by the Orioles, waived by the Rays and then signed by Los Angeles, has emerged as the Dodgers’ most trusted reliever, but he was not saved for the endgame in the opener against the Padres.. He was used by manager Dave Roberts to attack the middle of the lineup in the sixth inning of Game 1. Alex Vesia and Brusdar Graterol followed. Chris Martin, traded by the Cubs at the deadline like Effross and Robertson, closed a 5-3 victory despite having just two saves all year.

This bullpen composition and usage now combines desperation due to injury and inspiration by analytic wings trying to find the best lanes possible for each reliever regardless of inning. Don’t be myopic. It is not only the Yankees. Every team that doesn’t win the World Series likely will have a fan base bemoaning the configuration and/or usage of the pen — probably even the champions too.

The Yankees gave a clue to their ideal usage in beating the Guardians 4-1 in Division Series Game 1. A deep start by Gerrit Cole followed by Jonathan Loaisiga, Peralta and Holmes each facing three batters. When Cole got a base runner on in the seventh, Loaisiga entered. When Loaisiga got a runner on in the eighth, Peralta entered. When righty-hitting Owen Miller was sent up to pinch hit with one out in the ninth, Holmes entered. And Jameson Taillon warmed up just in case.

“This is the recipe,” pitching coach Matt Blake said. “You are going to have some three-to-five-hitter lanes. You are going to start to move some guys in different areas. You’re gonna be willing to cross over innings, go some up/downs [end one inning, sit, and go back out]. It was pretty solid [in Game 1] in terms of getting the guys we want them to face and having some options at the end.”

It could get trickier with Thursday’s rainout. Potentially there are now four games in four days if the series goes the distance. Taillon, earmarked to help in the pen, probably has to start. The Yanks probably envision the trio who relieved in Game 1 plus Lou Trivino as the high-leverage core. But it will be hard to use them in every game. A need for some length will trigger Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt. Miguel Castro and Lucas Luetge may have to be used in more than mop-up.

The Yankees took 12 rather than 13 pitchers and Chapman might have made this group — and been used — if he had not gone AWOL. He is almost certainly done even if the Yankees advance. But Ron Marinaccio and Frankie Montas have both been throwing bullpen sessions in case the Yanks reach the ALCS. Blake was confident that Marinaccio is healthy enough to return. He also thinks Montas is nearing readiness for a hybrid role like German or Schmidt.

But first the Yankees would have to go down this lane — ousting the Guardians and their more traditional bullpen setup.