Los Angeles Dodgers trade deadline addition Kris Bubic made his Dodgers debut on September 16th against the Cincinnati Reds, pitching in the eighth inning.
Bubic came in as a reliever, allowed one hit, got two strikeouts, and looked good overall.
He threw 19 pitches and got five whiffs, three on his fastball and two on his changeup, according to Baseball Savant.
His velocity jumped significantly on all four pitches, including 2.4 mph on the fastball, 0.7 mph on the changeup, and a 3.5 mph jump on the sinker.
The Reds attacked Bubic with 11 swings, but they couldn’t get a hard hit.
Bubic is continuing his dominance from the minor leagues. He has pitched 5.2 innings in Triple-A, allowing no runs as a reliever.
His impressive performance as a lefty reliever with plenty of MLB experience led the Dodgers to call up Bubic to see if he can help the team in the postseason out of the bullpen.
How Bubic has transitioned to the bullpen
Bubic’s task will be tricky since he has mainly been a starter, but the veteran feels confident he can deliver.
“I think in terms of having a little bit of postseason experience myself back in ’24 with Kansas City certainly helps kind of get over that first-time postseason kind of atmosphere and having that under my belt,” Bubic explained.
“But as I said, I think throughout my career I’ve pitched in a lot of different situations, a lot of different roles.
“So whether it’s a high-leverage, low-leverage, opener, first inning, ninth inning, extra innings, I’ll be ready to do whatever.”
If Bubic has more outings like his debut, it will not be a surprise to see him come in during key moments, especially since manager Dave Roberts tends to play match-ups and a run of lefties may come in the playoffs.
