Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Seth Halvorsen was only called up a few days ago, and he has just one appearance in Dodger Blue, but he may be the answer to the bullpen problems.
Halvorsen was traded to the Dodgers from the Colorado Rockies in a deal that sent out minor-league righty Nick Frasso and minor-league outfielder Landyn Vidourek.
He was sent down on Wednesday following his debut on Tuesday, but manager Dave Roberts was notably impressed with the flame-throwing righty and said he would be back in the mix.
Halvorsen looks to be on the verge of becoming the latest Dodgers reclamation project success.
On Tuesday, against the Royals, Halvorsen made his debut in extra innings, and he had great success, getting three outs without a run allowed or scored, helping the Dodgers win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
It was an electric debut, with a fastball that carried a ton of movement and flirted near the triple digits. His fastball has always been good, but his command has been lackluster, though it was sharp on Tuesday.
Halvorsen shined with six games down in Triple-A, not allowing a single run in Oklahoma City for the Dodgers. His insane fastball gives hitters fits, especially in the minor leagues where he has shined throughout his career.
However, during his little taste of action with the Rockies in the major leagues, he has struggled. Halvorsen had a 4.31 ERA in Colorado, with an insane 12.1% walk rate in 2025 that led to a lot of traffic.
His walk rate was up to 15.6% during his short time with Colorado this year, highlighting how big of a problem his command was.
Why the Dodgers need Halvorsen in their bullpen
The Dodgers love taking relievers with great stuff and command problems, and then flipping them into high-leverage arms with better control.
Seemingly, with Halvorsen, they have another player similar to Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein, whose stuff impressed, but whose command was always an issue.
If he can truly rein in his pitches and nibble at the strike zone more often without needing to throw middle-of-the-plate strikes, Halvorsen is a true x-factor that can help a bullpen that is tired at this point in the season.
The bullpen has not reached the low points of 2025 yet, but they are starting to gas up towards the end of the year.
