The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen has struggled in June thus far, despite an otherwise productive season for the group. This includes Wednesday’s implosion against the Pittsburgh Pirates that ended in a 9-8 loss, and some more struggles during their win on Thursday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wants his relief pitchers to get back to the standard they set earlier this season. That involves limiting a bullpen’s two worst enemies, walks and slugging.
But Roberts also believes the current poor streak is just part of the natural ups and downs of a season, especially for relievers, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group.
“I think it’s certainly the volatility of the bullpen. I think that’s the case with all bullpens across baseball,” Roberts said. “But I will say this, though, is that we talked about the walks yesterday, and then also the slug. That’s something that, when we’re really good, we minimize both of those. So I still feel that we’re better than a 9.00 ERA, which I know that will balance out the rest of the month.
“But we have a high standard for our guys.”
In June, the Dodgers’ bullpen has posted an 8.13 ERA across 31 innings, the second-highest mark in baseball. They’ve allowed 2.32 home runs per nine innings (second-worst) while walking 4.65 per nine (seventh-worst) and allowing a .301 average against (third-worst).
While L.A.’s bullpen does need to be better than they have been this month, it’s worth noting just how much production the team has been able to squeeze out of this current cast. The Dodgers are most notably without Edwin Díaz, which has a cascading effect down the board.
Additionally, the Dodgers are still waiting on the returns of Brock Stewart and Evan Phillips from the injured list. Having those two back on the mound gives L.A. more options to put together their best eight arms in the bullpen.
Injury updates for Dodgers relievers
Phillips and Stewart are both working their way back to the active roster, but it is the former who is further along.
The 31-year-old began his rehab assignment on June 4 and has completed three scoreless outings thus far. There has not been a clear timeline set for his activation, but MLB rules allow a pitcher to remain on one for up to 30 days.
Ideally, the Dodgers would like to give Phillips as much time as he needs, but the state of their bullpen theoretically could push the timeline closer to 20 days as opposed to the full period allotted.
As for Stewart, he already recovered from the right shoulder surgery that ended his 2025 season prematurely. The right-hander’s return in 2026 was brief, and he landed back on the IL with a bone spur in his left foot back in May. His timeline is less clear due to complications with his foot during his recovery.
Díaz has also been playing catch, but his return is likely to come in the second half of the season.
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