Dodgers: Bullpen Grades for the Month of August

The Dodgers just had their worst month since April, dropping 10 games. Looking at their bullpen, it could be a big reason as to why they struggled.

The Dodgers’ bullpen has been one of the most dominant forces in all of baseball in 2017. They have combined for a league leading earned run average of 2.90 over the year, and been a big part of their 16 games lead over Arizona. Lately, though, they seem to have faltered just a bit.

The team went 17 and 10 in August, for a winning percentage of just .629 compared to their .689 season average. The offense had its struggles, but the bullpen certainly didn’t help to stop the bleeding. Let’s take a closer look how each player graded for their month’s performance:

Luis Avilan has always been thought of as a lefty specialist. And it makes plenty of sense, given that he has held left-handed hitters to a .200 batting average in 2017. But he has lately become more of a fill-in setup man or middle relief pitcher rather than left-handed specialist.

Avilan put up some terrific numbers in August, throwing in 8 out of the 27 games for the month. In those 8 games, Avilan pitched a total of nine innings, giving up just one earned run. That would put his era for the month at 1.00, and at 2.77 for the year. Avilan has been a great full-time replacement as a left hander to make up for some significant losses. Both Adam Liberatore and Grant Dayton were lost for good parts of the season due to injuries. In fact, Dayton will have to sit out for next season as well, as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Typical recovery times for ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction ranges from 18 to 24 months at times.

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.

Tony Cingrani was acquired at the trade deadline in late July, as the team knew there would be a need for lefty relief. Cingrani put up some fantastic numbers in the first half with his former team, posting an earned run average of 2.70 across 16 2/3 innings of work. After the break has been an entirely different story altogether. Since the All-Star break, he has an ERA over 7.50, and in almost the same amount of work.

For the Dodgers in August, that’s where most of the damage was done. In 9 1/3 innings, he had an era of 4.82 in his 10 appearances. The front office had hoped he might fill the void left by the loss of Grant Dayton, but that hasn’t been the case quite yet. In the second half, he is allowing a batting average of just over .300 to hitters.

Come playoff time; it seems unlikely he will be on the roster if he cannot turn things around.

Josh Fields has been one of the bright spots in the bullpen all year-long. Even though he was just placed on the 10-day disabled list, Fields has shown he is more than capable of competing during October. In his 47 appearances for Los Angeles in 2017, his 2.68 ERA is saving Dave Roberts from a lot of trouble.

In August, it was more of the same story for Josh Fields. In 10 appearances, he threw 9 1/3 innings, giving up just 2 earned runs. That means he held some pretty high-powered opponents to a 1.86 earned run average for the month. More importantly, Fields proved that he could handle the Diamondbacks with ease, the team that the Dodgers are likely to face in a Divisional series. In his 2 innings of work against them, he struck out 1 and only gave up one hit.

Fields looks like he is for sure going to make the post season roster, barring any setbacks from his strained back.

The front office has gotten everything they had hope for from Kenley Jansen in 2017. When they signed him to a 5-year deal worth $80 million, I’m sure there were quite a few folks who were afraid he might not live up to that contract. And yet, he has appeared in 56 games, throwing 58 1/3 innings with a 1.23 earned run average.

His August was almost as good as his June when he didn’t give up any runs at all. Instead, he gave up one earned run across 12 innings of work, while picking up 8 saves in the process. Jansen was a dominant force all month long, just as he has been all season. On top of those numbers, Jansen also struck out the side in 5 of his 12 appearances.

Dave Roberts will more than likely to continue to give Jansen a rest in preparation for the post season, but he’ll be ready to go.

I wrote an article last month about how great Morrow has been for the team, and I continue to stand by that. Morrow has experienced a heck of a career revitalization in Los Angeles and appears poised to continue that dominance. His time with the Dodgers shows an earned run average of just 2.12 across 34 innings of work. And amazingly, Morrow has yet to give up a home run this entire season. That might be the most important stat for the team.

Morrow’s August was one of his best months, with an ERA of 2.38 in 12 appearances. In that time, he struck out 8 and walked 3, while giving up 3 earned runs. Morrow has bounced around quite a bit, between the big league squad and the minor leagues.

There is a good chance that Morrow will be a part of the postseason roster, it just depends on how September goes for him and everyone else. Him not giving up a home run yet will certainly factor into the decision.

Ross Stripling has been extremely flexible for the Dodgers in his first two years. He has bounced around from the minors to the big league level, both in the bullpen as well as a starter. Regardless of when he is pitching, Stripling has been solid. He is a great option for the bullpen when a starter is injured, or cannot go deep into a game. He eats up innings, and in a very efficient way.

Stripling’s August was strictly out of the bullpen, where he logged 15 1/3 innings of work across 10 appearances. Stripling got the heaviest workload out of the bullpen members, which makes sense for him being a long reliever. In those 10 appearances, he held his opponents to a 2.93 earned run average and struck out 19.

Stripling could be an excellent option for October, but there is a chance he gets pushed out of the bullpen by the fifth starter.

The front office had the same idea for Tony Watson as they did for Cingrani. They wanted to get Watson as an option for left-handed relief, especially in later innings. This trade was a little bit puzzling, as Watson wasn’t putting up great numbers at any point during the season. Overall, he has an earned run average of 3.83 in 59 appearances. He also blew 7 out of 17 save opportunities while he was in Pittsburgh.

In his first month in Dodger blue, Watson experienced more of the same lackluster performance issues. He appeared in 12 games, throwing 9 2/3 innings and giving up 5 earned runs. He gave up a huge home run to Jake Lamb with the bases loaded on August 8th, even though Lamb is hitting just .148 against left-handed pitching.

I do not see a scenario where Watson plays any role in the Dodgers’ world series run.

Next: Starting Pitcher Grades for August