What was once a major strength for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the bullpen is looking like the biggest weakness heading into the postseason.
Over the last 11 games, the bullpen has a combined ERA over 7.00. The ‘pen blew two leads against the Philadelphia Phillies in this most recent series — both resulting in losses on Monday and Tuesday.
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Tanner Scott has not been consistent at all, Michael Kopech can’t find the strike zone, Kirby Yates looks like a shell of his former self, Ben Casparius was optioned recently to Triple-A, and Blake Treinen has looked nothing like the devastating force he was last year.
Aside from Anthony Banda and Alex Vesia, the team projects to lean heavily on four young pitchers (Emmet Sheehan, Edgardo Henriquez, Justin Wrobleski, Jack Dreyer) with practically zero postseason experience.
Other than that, everything is just peachy.
There’s genuine worry about the bullpen with the postseason less than two weeks away. When asked about the situation as a whole, manager Dave Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register that his bullpen arms will continue to get opportunities to turn things around.
“It’s just trying to see which guys step up with opportunities,” Roberts said. “I thought Tanner (Scott), for example, the last two outings have been very good. That’s really good to see. So, just trying to figure out who’s going to seize the opportunity. They’re going to continue to get opportunities and we’ll see how it plays out.”
Fortunately for the Dodgers, there’s still time for the bullpen to regain some confidence. Scott appears to be in a much better rhythm over his last few outings. He looked like the ‘old’ Scott while closing out the 5-0 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday evening.
Getting Brock Stewart — and potentially Roki Sasaki back as right-handed bullpen options could help to further the confidence the team has in fielding a group that can complement what’s been a dominant starting rotation over the last month.
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Image Source: David Frerke-Imagn Images
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One Response
Semantics perhaps, but I hope the quote at the top of the story,
“Dodgers’ Dave Roberts Admits He’s Looking for Relievers He Can Trust”
is just someone paraphrasing him. It’s a matter of respect not to use the term trust here. Say confidence, or something, saying he can’t trust them is insulting. Not making excuses, they have stuck the place up, saying they are untrustworthy is poor, and unlike what I’d expect from Roberts, a true, for better and worse, a true 21 century manager. Respect your people who are probably trying as hard as they possibly can, even if effort isn’t equaling results. Don’t say you don’t trust them.
Leadership 101.