With a starting rotation that’s been patched together due to injuries, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has become all too familiar with making multiple calls to the bullpen on a nightly basis.
In response to Dodgers starters not named Clayton Kershaw failing to consistently throw a minimum of six innings, the club has carried eight relievers and a short bench for several weeks running.
Cramping and little-to-no effectiveness limited Mike Bolsinger to just 2.2 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night. Heading into the game Roberts indicated Joe Blanton and Chris Hatcher were unavailable.
That quickly changed as Hatcher took over for Bolsinger in the bottom of the third and proceeded to throw 2.1 scoreless innings. Casey Fien allowed one run over two innings, and Adam Liberatore finished out the night with four strikeouts over two perfect innings.
“I can’t say enough. Just the way they take the baseball, pick one another up, pick the team up,” Roberts said of his relievers. “To go 6.1 and give up just one run is obviously more than commendable. … To take the ball and go extra, I’m really proud of them.”
As for going back on his remarks about Hatcher, Bolsinger’s unreasonably short outing essentially forced Roberts’ hand. “It’s an all-hands-on-deck-type thing,” he said. “To their credit, our ‘pen is in good shape for [Sunday]. It took a lot of guys going out of their comfort zone to get it done.”
For as much criticism as the Dodgers’ bullpen has faced, they began the seven-game homestand with a 3.01 ERA that was tops in the National League. Some bumps against the Brewers raised their ERA to 3.17, which was tied for second-best in the NL entering Saturday.
The group has thrown 16.1 innings over the past three games, and figure to be in line for more work in the four-game series finale that Kenta Maeda is slated to start. Relief should come on Monday when Kershaw takes the mound in the opener with the Washington Nationals.
