The Day the Dodgers Met Mike Bolsinger

It was way back in April when the Dodgers met right-hander Mike Bolsinger during his second career game and Major League starting debut for Arizona. The Dodgers broke in Bolsinger with his first big league loss as they defeated the Snakes with a score of 8-6 at Dodger Stadium.

The 26-year old drafted out of the University of Arkansas only made it through 4 innings while allowing 7 runs on 7 hits. He served up a three-run homerun to

April 19, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Andre Ethier (16) rounds the bases after hitting a three run home run in the fourth inning against Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger (49) at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Andre Ethier, who had the flu, in the fourth inning. He couldn’t get anyone out in the bottom of the fifth when the Dodgers scored four runs. Three consecutive singles by Dan Haren, Dee Gordon and Carl Crawford loaded the bases up with nobody out for the Dodgers. Hanley Ramirez reached on a fielding error by third baseman Martin Prado, and that was the end of the line for the rookie Bolsinger.

Let’s hope that Bolsinger will be allowing less runs at Dodger Stadium when he’s donning Blue in 2015. Looking back at that fateful start at the beginning of the year doesn’t give Bolsinger a fair shot.

Bolsinger explained what happened after he took his first Major League loss:

"“First time through the order was good, but I kind of got away from my game plan a little bit. I left some balls up and when you do that up here, there’s consequences. It’s how you respond to it. Each time I’ve been out there, I’ve kind of learned.”"

Bolsinger might need some more learning. After picking up his first Major League win against the Chicago Cubs in his following start, Bolsinger did not win again the rest of the season. He collected another five losses over the seven games following the sole victory.

We can hope a change of venue from Chase Field to Dodger Stadium can help lower his homeruns allowed. Mike served up 7 homeruns in just 10 games (9) starts in 2014 for the D-backs.

Bolsinger will most likely start the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City for the Dodgers, but he will no doubt be called upon during the season to start for the Dodgers when the inevitable injury to one of the rotation members goes down. Last year with Triple-A Reno, Bolsinger went 8-3 with a 3.93 ERA and 88 strikeouts and 32 walks over 91 2/3 innings.

The Dodgers purchased Bolsinger from the D-backs, and the right-hander will not be a free agent until 2021. The D-backs designated Bolsinger for assignment in order to protect five prospects from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft on December 11th.

Even though Bolsinger wasn’t exactly impressive during the brief meeting the Dodgers had with him at the beginning of last season, he will be a good option as a spot starter with more upside than a Kevin Correia or a Roberto Hernandez could ever have. With a little work with Rick Honeycutt, Bolsinger may still have a shot at breaking into the Dodgers rotation in 2015 if not on a permanent basis at least as a decent substitute when needed. Hey, the OKC RedHawks need pitchers too.