The Los Angeles Dodgers have dealt with numerous starting pitcher injuries and struggles early in the season, which has limited their ability to go deep into games and get onto the mound to begin with.
Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are both on the injured list because of respective shoulder trouble.
Roki Sasaki also had some early growing pains that limited how deep he was able to pitch into games, and some spot starts from the likes of Landon Knack, Bobby Miller and Justin Wrobleski also left the Dodgers in a tough place.
The lack of starting pitching effectiveness has caused them to rely heavily on their bullpen early in the season.
Dodgers relievers have combined to throw an MLB-leading 126 innings thus far, and that has seemingly been correlated to a drop in effectiveness in some cases.
While all relievers are prone to some volatility, it’s the increased workload so early on that has Dodgers manager Dave Roberts concerned.
“Pitching is certainly volatile,” Roberts said. “We experienced it last year and essentially every year. I think the thing that’s probably most disconcerting is the bullpen leading Major League Baseball in innings.
“That’s something when you’re talking about the long season, the starters are built up to be able to take those innings down. So that’s where my head is at, as far as trying to make sure we don’t redline these guys in the ‘pen.”
The Miami Marlins at 118.1 innings are currently the closest team in bullpen usage, but they still trail the Dodgers by eight innings. The Chicago White Sox check in at 113.2 innings and the Seattle Mariners sit at 112.1.
No other team has reached 110 innings from their relievers, and 12 clubs have yet to tally 100 bullpen innings.
The Dodgers have relied on their young arms to pitch often with Ben Casparius throwing 19 innings and Jack Dreyer tossing 15.1. Both rank in the top 20 of total innings out of the bullpen, with Casparius just 0.1 behind the top spot.
Tanner Scott also ranks highly in usage at 15 innings, placing him 21st overall.
That gives the Dodgers three relievers inside the top 30 of most innings thrown as a reliever this season. When expanded to the top 50, the Dodgers have five relievers on the list with Luis García (No. 34) and Kirby Yates (No. 45) joining the group.
While five doesn’t seem like many, there should be an average of 1.66 on the list per team, given that there are 30 teams. Only the New York Yankees have more than three inside the top 50, and they check in with four.
When expanded to the top 100, the Dodgers have seven on the list, which also leads MLB.
The Dodgers have made an effort to limit some of the innings for their pitchers, though. Luis García, Yoendrys Gómez, Noah Davis and Matt Sauer have all seen time on the roster with the main goal to eat innings.
The Dodgers have opted to put those players into some high leverage situations, which doesn’t maximize their chances of winning in the present, but does allow some of their top relievers to rest to focus on the long-term outlook of the club.
It’s a strategy the Dodgers use every season.
Rather than relying on their top arms more often or carrying all the best pitchers they have on the 40-man roster, they’ve utilized options as Justin Bruihl, Michael Petersen, Brent Honeywell, Andre Jackson, Ryan Yarbrough, Gus Varland, Nick Ramírez, Reyes Moronta, Nabil Crismatt and Yohan Ramírez to just eat innings during a given season.
Ultimately, the strategy has cost them some wins at points during the season, but keeping their focus on the postseason is something the Dodgers will always prioritize.
How can Dodgers bullpen usage be decreased?
The Dodgers need more consistency from their starters and fewer injuries so they can rely on them to carry the workload more.
They faced a similar issue last season and the bullpen was overworked early, but once the rotation started to find some consistency, the relievers were able to get more rest and become more effective.
The Dodgers could give some of their relievers a break by calling up Knack or Wrobleski to eat innings out of the bullpen.
In addition, they will continue to swap relievers out when possible and keep an eye on recently released arms they can bring into their organization, such as they do every year.
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