Dodgers: Armed with a New Nickname, Brusdar Graterol Impresses in Final Tune-Up

Whenever you have a guy that can routinely throw triple digits coming out of your bullpen, there are bound to be nicknames flying around the clubhouse. That’s exactly where the Dodgers’ Brusdar Graterol finds himself in his first year with the team. 

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talked about Brusdar’s outing on Monday and what he has seen from him so far. Doc also noted that Graterol had acquired a new nickname at some point over the last few weeks.

The Buffalo, now he’s got the nickname the Bazooka. So Brusdar, he was fantastic and just stepping on it tonight. The fastball I think touched 101, and it’s as easy a 101 as you can get. Slider was sharp, had depth. So a really clean fun outing to watch.

Graterol pitched the ninth inning in Monday’s Dodgers win over the Diamondbacks, striking out one and inducing two soft groundballs. He routinely touched triple-digits in the process and displayed a nasty slider. Even more impressive, the Dodgers reliever threw the ball so hard that his chain broke and he caught it during his delivery. 

Graterol figures to plug into the bullpen immediately in 2020. Along with Joe Kelly and Kenley Jansen, Graterol could see some of the later innings down the stretch with the electric arm he has. This could very well be one of the most powerful Dodgers bullpens ever. 

Graterol came over to the Dodgers in the trade that sent Kenta Maeda to the Twins. Luke Raley also came back to Los Angeles in that deal. Maeda still has four years of control left with the Twins. Graterol appeared in just ten big league games last season with Minnesota, so you can expect to see the Bazooka coming out of the Dodgers bullpen for years to come. 

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