Dodgers: Unheralded Trio Help Anchor the Bullpen

The Dodgers boasted one of the best bullpens in the major leagues for the 2017 season.  While losing Brandon Morrow was a blow, there is an unheralded trio that will help keep the bullpen strong in 2018.

The Dodgers will enter the 2018 season with a bit of uncertainty in their bullpen.  While Kenley Jansen is the leader of the bullpen, the Dodgers will need contributions from every one in order to remain one of the best bullpens in the majors.  Scott Alexander and Tom Koehler are the newest additions that should help replace some of the dominant innings lost to Brandon Morrow’s departure.

After the new arrivals, the Dodgers will return the familiar faces in Tony Cingrani, Pedro Baez, Josh Fields, Ross Stripling, and Yimi Garcia.  While the Dodgers will look to duplicate their bullpen success from a season ago, they will also look for some rebound seasons from relievers like Yimi Garcia and Pedro Baez.  The bullpen is held together by three relievers who take their fair share of beating from the fans, but without them, the Dodgers bullpen would not be as strong as it is.

Josh Fields

Josh Fields was one of the worst relievers for the Dodgers in the World Series.  He was knocked around in game two of the World Series and finished with an 18.00 ERA for the series.  Still, that doesn’t take away from the very solid season that Fields had for the Dodgers.  He posted a 2.84 ERA for the regular season and a stellar 0.96 WHIP.  While wins are not a very good statistic to judge relievers off of, there is something to be said about a reliever that wins six games and loses zero.

Fields is a very tough reliever on opposing right-handed batters as he only allowed a .169 average against last season.  He even posted a respectable .232 average allowed to left-handed hitters.  Fields will enter the 2018 season as one of the middle relief pitchers for Dave Roberts’ bullpen.  With Yimi Garcia coming off two lost seasons and Tom Koehler being a reclamation project, Josh Fields could end up being a vital part of the 2018 bullpen.

Pedro Baez

If you took a poll of all the Dodgers fans on which Dodger player they disliked most, I think it’s a pretty safe bet the answer would be Pedro Baez.  Baez is the main whipping boy of all Dodger fans.  Despite that, he had an alright season in 2017 despite a disastrous September.  He finished with a 2.95 ERA overall for the season despite his month of September in which he posted a 10.38 ERA.  Baez was left off the postseason roster due to his horrendous end to the season.

Despite the sour ending, Baez only allowed a .238 average to right-handed hitters and was even tougher on left-handed batters who hit .206 off of him.  The main culprit for Baez is himself.  He tends to take too long in between pitches and lulls his defense to sleep.  Baez also needs to learn to trust his stuff and attack hitters rather than pitching around them and walking them.

Baez could emerge as the go-to eighth-inning setup reliever just as he was before Brandon Morrow if he can bounce back.  There is no guarantee that Baez will come back strong but given that he throws 98 miles per hour and has a decent slider, it would not be surprising to see Baez reclaim the setup role.  Despite the hate he gets from Dodger fans, Baez is a very good reliever when he’s pitching with confidence and he might just end up reverting back to his dominant form in 2018.