While the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t tinker much with their roster during the offseason, they still added left-handed specialist Scott Alexander in a three-team trade with the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox.
Alexander filled the void of Luis Avilan, who was dealt to the White Sox in the same transaction. A ground ball specialist, the 28-year-old figured to offer a new look to the Dodgers bullpen that lacked in that department last season.
So far, Alexander has struggled to find the same success that led to a career-year with the Royals in 2017. While he isn’t making excuses for his early-season hiccups, the southpaw believes he’s simply struggling due to not having as sharp of command, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I’m just not sharp with it right now,” Alexander said. “I’m not going to sit here and make excuses. I’m walking too many guys. But it’s not like I’m missing all over the place. I’m just a little off.
“It’s kind of hard when you only have one pitch and that pitch isn’t 100 percent. But when you’re getting your tail whipped is when you learn the most.”
Alexander’s most valuable pitch from a season ago was his sinker, which he utilized over 90 percent of the time. It generated weak contact and many ground balls, giving him a dependable out-pitch at any point during an at-bat.
In four appearances over 3.1 innings pitched thus far, Alexander had compiled an 8.10 ERA, 5.78 FIP and 2.10 WHIP with more walks (five) than strikeouts (four).
A bright spot, however, is that Alexander has yet to allow a hit to a left-handed batter. Last season, he limited southpaws to a .250/.333/.347 batting line over 81 plate appearances.
He looked good in his most recent outing on Saturday against the San Francisco Giants, striking out two and getting a groundout in a perfect inning.
