Dodgers 2016 Player Previews: Mike Bolsinger

The next player in our player preview series is Mike Bolsinger.

Mike Bolsinger is 28 years old and from Gurnee, Illinois. He is entering his second season with the Dodgers.

2015 Recap

In 2015 with the boys in blue, Bolsinger pitched 109.1 innings and started 21 games. It was only his second year pitching in the majors. In 2014 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bolsinger pitched 52.1 innings in 10 games. He doubled those appearances and innings in 2015. He finished the season with an ERA of 3.62 and 98 strikeouts.

Bolsigner brought some stability to the rotation last year when injuries became a problem. However at first it was not enough for him to stay with the big club. He got called up and sent back down to AAA in Oklahoma City multiple times throughout the 2015 season. It was not until September when the roster expanded that he joined the team again.

2016 Role and Steamer Projections

Since the Dodgers already have two starters out, Bolsinger will have to battle it out with some other pitchers in order to claim a spot in the roster. Depending on his performance this spring and with the club it will be interesting to see if he maintains that spot on the roster when Hyun-jin Ryu and Brett Anderson come back healthy part way through the season. I am personally rooting for Bolsinger. I think he is a good pitcher that will only get better if he is in the same place for awhile. I also love how calm he is. Before starts he always looks like he joking around with the guys in the dugout and relaxed.

Steamer projections has Bolsinger with a record of 3-3 in 45.0 innings pitched in 2016. It also is projecting that he will post an ERA of 3.79 in 8 games. Similar to Brett Anderson, the innings pitched is low do to Bolsinger bouncing back and forth from the minors to the majors.

What Could Go Wrong

With starting pitching you always worry about injuries. Though Bolsinger is pretty young and has not faced too many in his career thus far, you just never know what might happen. The other thing that could go wrong is if he cannot manage to be consistent and has to go back and forth between the majors and the minors like last season. I think all that traveling to and from does not benefit a player. Constantly changing teams does not do well for a pitcher to establish his rhythm somewhere.

What Could Go Right

Mike has a lot of potential for things to go right this season. If he can find a way to string together some consistent outings he has the potential to make the major league roster and stay up with the team instead of heading back to the minors. At only 28 he still has a lot of his career ahead of him.

I personally think Bolsinger has a lot of potential and will more than likely perform better than the Steamers projections for the 2016 season. I think he will play a bigger role than just a guy who starts eight games for the team.