Dodgers playoff bullpen is wide open - auditions continue

As Mark reminded us earlier this week, RP is not predictable.  And it isn’t just year to year, but also game to game.  I was thinking, what would I do? As if my opinion matters.  And I do not have an answer.  

The Dodgers have tried every strategy known.  Waiver wire, trade, free agent… I think it is clear that buying relievers is not the answer.  This year the Dodgers are paying $41MM pre-luxury tax for two closers: Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz.  Scott has been mostly okay, while Díaz has been a complete disappointment.  Were they mistakes? In hindsight, yes.  But free agents are not acquired through hindsight. 

I was not against signing either reliever, but I did have an issue with the amount.  Apparently out-of-line contracts are not a concern with the Dodgers.  I will admit that chasing history could have had an impact on their strategy.  Since NYY won their 3rd straight WS championship in 2000, no team won back-to-back until the Dodgers last year.  No NL team has ever had a 3-peat.  This run of the Dodgers is the most lopsided WS run since NYY won 4 out of 5 (1996-2000) and appeared in 6 of 8 WS (1996-2003).  So, yeah, I think chasing history was a consideration. 

I know it is fashionable to rip Tanner Scott.  Yes, that loss to Miami was bad.  While September has been a rollercoaster for Scott, he has converted 22 of 26 save opportunities for the year.  He was 20-2 before September.  He has a 1.01 WHIP.   I do not have a lot of heartache over those numbers.  No Dodger RP with more than 5.0 IP has a better WHIP.  IMO, WHIP is more important than ERA for a reliever.  ERA is dependent on IP, while WHIP is not.  It is BB and hits per IP.  

Who here has heard of RHRP Bryan Baker (TB)?  LHRP Jacob Jatz (Tex)?  Yoendrys Gómez (Min)?  Riley O’Brien (STL)?  Who expected Louis Varland (Tor), who has never recorded a save before 2026, to garner 33 saves this year?  RP come out of the blue every year.  

Right now, LAD has 9 RP on their 28-man.  Scott is 22-4 in saves/blown saves.  The other 8 are a combined 8-9. Not good!!  Roki Sasaki could earn some part of this role for the playoffs.  Or maybe Kris Bubic.  Regardless of the bomb he gave up to De La Cruz, Evan Phillips is getting more comfortable in the high leverage role.  Since Alex Vesia’s last blown save, he has pitched in 10 games, 9.0 IP, 1 run, 4 hits, 1 BB, 9 K, 6 inherited runners with 1 scored.  Has he turned the proverbial corner from his mid-season malaise?  Not quite at the Adrián Morejón level, but pretty darn good, nonetheless.  Vesia will be more in the role of coming in with runners on, or in a setup role.  

I would expect LHRP Jack Dreyer and RHRP Brock Stewart to be LH and RH middle reliever non-high leverage role. That would leave LHP Justin Wrobleski and RHP Emmet Sheehan to be the middle inning multiple inning relievers.

After the Dodgers optioned Sheehan, the Dodgers have 5 SP, including Justin Wrobleski.  Or do they plan on starting Bobby Miller?  Really, Bobby Miller over Emmet Sheehan?  Sheehan is not eligible to return to LAD for the remainder of the regular season without a corresponding pitcher going on the IL. Will that happen or will the Dodgers leave him in OKC for the rest of the year? 

Not all is bad with LAD relievers.  

·      IP – 497.1, second least, behind Seattle’s 478.0.

·      Hits – 412, least number of hits…#2 is 438.

·      BA - .222, 3rd lowest

·      HR – 56, 3rd least 

Where the Dodgers relievers fall down is in BB.  They have issued 221 free passes, 18th most.  IMO, this is an organizational issue. 

One other consideration is the number of high stress innings the LAD relievers incur vs other teams.  Since the All-Star Break, the Dodgers have played 53 games, with 24 being 1-run games.  That is 45.3% of the games played since the All-Star Break.  That is a lot of high stress IP for relievers.  The Dodgers are 13-11 in those games.  For the year, no NL playoff team has played in more 1-run games, and the Dodgers have a very respectful record in those games.  The Dodgers have won 56.6% of those games.  Only Philadelphia (61.0%) and Arizona (58.3%) have better records in 1-run games.  San Diego (53.1%) and Milwaukee (53.5%) have perceived better late inning options, but the Dodgers do not come second to either team in higher stress innings at the end of the game.  

Roki Sasaki could come back this week and should pivot right to the bullpen.  However, with Sheehan now dispatched to OKC, maybe he takes Sheehan’s spot in the rotation.  We will get to see Kris Bubic in a relief role starting this week.  With Vesia and Phillips getting more innings, the high leverage roles should be okay.  Will they blow saves?  Undoubtedly.  This is not a strength of this team.  I also expect to see Blake Treinen in high leverage situations in the next 12 games.  The Dodgers have to see if he is going to be considered for the playoff roster. 

Will Edwin Díaz miraculously find it? Or is his season over? He has another chance to show what he has left on Wednesday for OKC.

One big unknown…how is Tyler Glasnow’s health?  Since he is not on the IL, I have to assume he is going to start this weekend against SF.  Would he be a better use as a reliever in the playoffs?

The playoff bullpen is going to take a lot of turns over the next two weeks.  Let’s see who rises to the occasion.

 El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego) 11 - OKC Comets 5

 RHSP Gavin Stone pitched a clean 1st inning, but that was his last positive.  In the 2nd, he allowed 2 singles to the first two batters.  The next batter reached on a fielder’s choice, with one run scoring.  Stone got two outs, but that was followed by a BB and a bases clearing double, for a 4-0 lead.  

Stone was able to bounce back in the 3rd.  He allowed a 1-out single that was erased on a GIDP. 

RHRP Chris Campos pitched a clean 4th with a K. 

In the 5th inning, LF Chris Newell hit a HR (2) giving OKC their 1st run.  El Paso got the run back in the bottom of the 5th off RHRP Antonio Knowles.  A single, SB, and 2-out single scored the 5th run for El Paso. 

RHRP Jake Cousins probably ended his extreme longshot chances with his 0.1 IP in the 6th.  The inning started out fine with a K, but it quickly unraveled after that.  A walk, single, RBI single, and walk allowed 1 run and left the bases loaded.  RHRP Griff McGarry entered to relieve Cousins.  McGarry issued a run-scoring BB and a run-scoring WP with the other runners moving to 2nd and 3rd.  McGarry then gave up a 2-run single, and a 10-1 lead.  

RHRP Ryder Ryan relieved McGarry to start the 8th.  With one out, Ryan hit a batter who then scored on a double.  

OKC tried to climb back into the game in the 9th.  CF Alek Thomas led off with a HBP.  DH James Tibbs III followed with a BB.  1B Ryan Ward doubled home both Thomas and JTIII.  3B Ryan Fitzgerald then hit a 2-run HR (16).  The hit was his 165th of the season, breaking the team single season record for hits. The next three batters made out to end the game. 

OKC had 5 hits, with no OKC batter having more than 1.  Three of the hits were XBH.   Chris Newell (2) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (16) hit HRs, while Ryan Ward had a double (15).  

Not all was lost on this one.  Even though OKC lost, their magic number was reduced to 1 as Sugar Land lost to Las Vegas.  There are 5 games to get that one win or one Sugar Land loss and put OKC into the playoffs vs Las Vegas (A’s).  

Box Score 

Springfield Cardinals 9 - Tulsa Drillers 7 

Winning the first half, Tulsa was the away team in Playoff Game 1.  Baseballs were flying out of the stadium in this one. Tulsa scored 6 runs on 4 HR, while Springfield scored 7 runs on 3 HR. 

2B Taylor Young led off the game with a HR to get the playoffs going in the right direction.  

Not to be outdone, C Griffin Lockwood-Powell slugged a 2nd inning leadoff HR. 

In the 4th inning, RF Kole Myers hit a one out single.  Myers scored on 1B Joe Vetrano’s triple. 

For the first three innings, LHSP Adam Serwinowski did not allow a run.  He gave up, one BB, and had 4 K.  

But in the 4th, with a 3-0 lead, he gave up a leadoff single, a one out BB, and 2 Ks.  But on the 1st pitch to the 5th batter of the inning, Serwinowski gave up a 3-run game tying HR. 

Serwinowski walked the first two batters in the 5th, and RHRP Payton Martin relieved him.  Martin induced a GIDP, but then gave up an RBI single for the go-ahead run. 

The back and forth continued in earnest, beginning in the 7th.  Tulsa took the lead back in the 7th.  SS Elijah Hainline led off the inning with a single.  With 2 outs, DH Mike Sirota hit an absolute no-doubt 2-run HR, and a 5-4 lead.  

Martin got the first out in the 7th before giving way to RHRP Lucas Wepf. Wepf got the first out but then ran into trouble by allowing two 2-out singles.  Wepf was then relieved by RHRP Kelvin Ramirez.  Ramirez walked the first batter he faced to load the bases.  But a WP brought home the tying run. 

In the 8th, 3B Jake Gelof drew a leadoff BB that was followed by LF Charles Davalan’s HR. 

In the bottom of the inning, RHRP Jacob Kmatz struck out the side. But before he could complete that, he gave up a game tying 2-run HR. 

After Tulsa did not score in the 9th, RHRP Carson Hobbs was called to pitch the bottom of the 9th.  With one out, he gave up a single that was followed by a game winning, walkoff HR. 

·      Mike Sirota – 2-5, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR

·      Taylor Young – 1-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR

·      Charles Davalan – 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR

·      Griffin Lockwood-Powell – 1-4, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR

·      Joe Vetrano – 1-4, 1 RBI, Triple 

Box Score