Dodgers’ Bullpen Grades for the Month of May

If you’ve been confused on why you haven’t heard #FradumanTwitter clamoring for the head of Chris Hatcher recently, it’s because he has been quietly good.

In the month of May, Hatcher owns a 3.14 ERA in his 13.1 innings pitched and has been used in a similar role to Pedro Baez. Hatcher was mainly employed in blowouts to start the season to get his confidence up and has since then has proven his worth in high leverage situations.

Hatcher’s recent outing against the Cubs was masterful and showed the confidence the team now has in him. Hatcher pitched the eighth and ninth innings against the defending champions and got them in order each inning. Hatcher has proved he is ready for the high leverage situations and until he is proven wrong he’s the right guy to trot out there when the team needs a big out.

Wow, imagine saying that one year ago today.

Hatcher was terrible last season, and I had little to no expectations of him coming into this season. However, he has more than showed he is still a capable arm out of the pen for the time being. I am still a bit weary of Hatcher but as each day passes I get more and more confident in his abilities.

However, he did have his “Chris Hatcher” moment when he gave up a solo home run to break the bullpen’s scoreless streak yesterday. Hatcher gets a B for the month of May because he didn’t look as unhittable as the rest of the Dodgers pen.