Grading the Dodgers: Bullpen

Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

This one will be less fun than grading the rotation.

The bullpen, for the second consecutive year, was the Dodgers biggest weakness. It started off ominously, as their closer had foot surgery in February and didn’t make his first appearance until May 15.

Overall, the numbers around the Dodger bullpen were sort of confusing. Their bullpen actually threw the fifth-fewest innings in all of baseball, but had the 12th-highest bullpen ERA. They had the fifth-fewest walks given up and struck out the fifth-most batters, but were middle of the pack in terms of runs allowed and batting average against.

While the bullpen’s overall numbers weren’t the worst, at times it seemed like the Dodger starters would need to throw at least eight innings for the Dodgers to hold a lead. 21 different pitchers appeared in relief for the Dodgers, and I don’t hate myself enough to grade each and every one of them. So I’ll just take a look at the six relievers that threw more than 30 innings and the two that were acquired at the trade deadline.

Next: Jim Johnson