Are You Paying Attention?

Since June 15th, the Dodgers have had one of the best bullpen ERAs in baseball. In fact, since that date, which happens to be the date Dave Roberts called out the bullpen and said, “they have to be better,” the Dodgers bullpen is tied for 2nd place in MLB with a 2.64 ERA (tied with the Braves). The Phillies are #1 with a 2.27 bullpen ERA. I am absolutely incredulous that some fans are still calling for the Dodgers to blow up the bullpen! Hello, have you been paying attention?

Bullpen pitchers are very fickle – we know this. Why do we act like we don’t? A few weeks ago, the Dodgers bullpen was 29th in all of baseball (for the season). Now they are #21. If you still believe the Dodgers are going to trade away some top prospects for veteran bullpen arms, you have not been paying attention to how Andrew Friedman operates.

Alex Vesia and Yency Almonte, who were both important cogs in the Dodgers 2022 bullpen corps, started out badly, but both have righted the ship. New pickup, Ryan Braiser, and his new cutter has a 1.46 ERA, Caleb Ferguson has a 2.36 ERA, and even the much-maligned Bazooka, has a 1.88 ERA. Evan Phillips is the closer and looks solid, if not spectacular.

Nick Robertson will likely go back to AAA, and Gus Varland, Jimmy Nelson, Ken Giles, Zack Burdi, Alec Gamboa, Shelby Miller, Justin Bruihl, and Adam Kolarek are options. Maybe JP Feyerseisen, Shelby Miller, Daniel Hudson, Striker Buehler, and some others may or may not be back. There are lots of options; only one or two need to pan out.

Those of you who think Noah Syndergaard will just be more of the same pitcher we saw early in the season must believe that Andrew Friedman and Mark Prior are idiots. If they really thought he would be bad, there is no way they would bring him back. I have more confidence in them than in anyone else on this board. If they think Thor can do it, I am riding on that bandwagon. Clayton will allegedly be back around the first of August, so the rotation will look like this at that time:

1. Urias
2. Gonsolin
3. Kershaw
4. Miller
5. Syndergaard

Grove and Sheehan are bullpen options down the stretch, and don’t forget about Gavin Stone! The sky is not falling. The farm is stocked and at the ready. Progress is not linear, but many Dodger fans have bad-mouthed this team all year, and now it is starting to gel. Whether the Dodgers make any moves at the deadline depends upon who is available and how that team values our prospects. If you think Friedman is going to make a plethora of trades, you are not paying attention!

BTW, Watch for Ryan Pepiot!