Dodgers: Bullpen Grades for the Month of August

Pedro Baez has been one of the better surprises of the 2017 season. He’s made getting the ball to Kenley Jansen with the lead a much simpler process. His ERA on the year sits at 1.79, and his fastball is averaging 97 miles per hour. And yet, Baez easily had his worse month of the season in August.

For the month, Baez managed a 3.38 earned run average across 10 2/3 innings of work. He appeared in 10 games for the team in August, putting in the least work he has performed in a month since April. Baez gave up two pretty big home runs as well, something that has plagued him his whole career. He gave up a long ball to Jake Lamb on the 8th that allowed Arizona to climb back into the game and eventually win. And on August 2nd, he gave up the lead permanently on a two run home run by Tyler Flowers in the eighth inning of a tied game.

The team will need Baez, and his powerful arm come playoff time, so September will be the time to right the ship.