Dodgers: Five Overlooked and Undervalued Players

Pedro Baez

Some fans absolutely despise Pedro Baez. The fans that feel this way are stuck in the past. If we are this far into his dominant season and you still think Baez is unreliable, then you haven’t been watching enough Dodger baseball.

Yes, in past seasons fans had good reason not to want the Dominican right-hander in the game. He was a disaster waiting to happen every time he was put in. Anytime he came in with a small lead, fans expected him to blow the lead and our offense to try and clean up the mess that Baez made.

This season has been completely different. Baez is a brand new player. During the offseason, Rick Honeycutt and Co. had Baez speed up his pace. Before this year he was, as the great Vin Scully called him, “the human rain delay.” He would take ages in between pitches and that caused a plethora of problems.

This long break would make fielders become disengaged and would also throw off his own timing causing him to miss spots and get hit hard.

This season he has sped up significantly and has improved overall. He boasts a 1.83 ERA which is second only to Kenley Jansen. Those two at the back end could form a deadly end to a game come this postseason. The small adjustment he made to the way he pitches has produced an enormous outcome. He has been as reliable as they come.