The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen was recently reinforced with the return of Pedro Baez, who promptly tossed a scoreless inning against the Houston Astros in his first appearance off the 10-day injured list.
The club also activated Joe Kelly, who just completed a five-game suspension and pitched for the first time in over one month. Kelly had been sidelined by right shoulder inflammation.
While the Dodgers bullpen has struggled some as of late, it’s a unit that ranks among the best in all of baseball in multiple categories. Entering Friday, the Dodgers’ relief corps sported the sixth-highest FanGraphs’ WAR (2.6).
The bullpen also ranks first in ground ball percentage (51.4), second in ERA (2.71), is tied for second in xFIP (4.01) and third in FIP (3.65).
“This is the deepest, most-talented ‘pen by a full grade than we’ve ever had,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently said.
“We just got Petey back, we’re going to get Joe back here soon, guys are having tremendous years, it’s a close group. Adding Jake to the mix, guys that get left and right out, have speciality pitches that are unique. All that stuff, certainly the best that we’ve seen.”
As Roberts alluded to, he has many reliable options to go to depending on the situation. Newcomers Brusdar Graterol, Jake McGee and Blake Treinen each have thrived, while holdovers such as Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro and Adam Kolarek are finding success as well.
Unfortunately, Ferguson’s season came to end as he will undergo Tommy John surgery.
That figures to create more of an opportunity for Victor Gonzalez, who already is also making a name for himself. Gonzalez is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 0.59 WHIP over 11 games.
As for Kenley Jansen, a recent rough patch has inflated his statistics, but he still leads the National League with 11 saves.
Dodgers bullpen game
Roberts has not only voiced his trust in the Dodgers bullpen, he’s heavily leaned on he group of late. Friday marks a third bullpen game in the past week. Graterol served as the opener in each of the first two, and now Alex Wood gets to do the honor against the Colorado Rockies.
Roberts previously ruled out the possibility of Wood being inserted back into the starting rotation amid minor injury concerns with Walker Buehler and Dustin May.
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