Injuries to three starting pitchers, two outfielders, an infielder and the catcher? No problem. Losers of three out of four to the rival San Francisco Giants? Meh.
A five-game stretch in which the bullpen gave up 16 runs in 13.2 innings and blew three leads? A thing of the past.
After all the drama and ups-and-downs, yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers are back in first place in the National League West. Technically speaking, they began Tuesday tied atop the standings with the Colorado Rockies.
The same Rockies the Dodgers will face at Coors Field in a three-game series beginning Friday. With the the Dodgers, it seems like everything gets magnified and blown out of proportion.
When the injuries hit, it was because the front office was incompetent. When the team lost four of five, it was because the bullpen was still a major weakness.
But what about since? The Dodgers have rattled off four wins in five games, allowing just 10 runs — all by starting pitchers. Yes, you read that correctly. The atrocious, dreadful, weak-point bullpen is on a streak of 14 scoreless innings.
Even the loss was 90 feet from potentially being a win as the Dodgers stranded Yasmani Grandal at third base in the ninth inning Saturday after he hit a leadoff double.
Well, what about that “depleted” rotation? How about the third-best ERA in baseball (2.69), the second-most innings pitched (80.1), and lowest batting average against (.196)?
In fact, even the bullpen has the 10th-best batting average against (.217) despite the rocky start to the season. Yes, we’re still in small-sample-size mode, but the sample size is growing, and the numbers are improving.
Once the Dodgers are healthy, they should undeniably get better (something we’ve already seen with the return of Grandal and Howie Kendrick). If anything, it’s a reminder to take a deep breath. It’s a long season and everything is going to be okay.
