Dodgers: Is Dave Roberts at Fault for the Inconsistent Bullpen?

Nobody saw the regression of this Dodgers team quite to the level in which it has occurred thus far. Expectations were higher than ever after an NL Pennant, but have since been crushed after a God-awful start. One of the main reasons for this early demise has been the unpredictable bullpen.

Last season, the Dodgers had one of the best and most reliable bullpens in all of baseball. All ending with likely the most dominant 8^th and 9^th inning combo in the big leagues with Brandon Morrow and Kenley Jansen. Outside of Morrow and Watson who was acquired at the deadline last season, the bullpen is essentially the same.

So what’s the problem?

Well, the pretty simple answer actually, they are simply too inconsistent and unpredictable to be of any help to this struggling team. That will continue to be a theme for the remainder of the season and if they can’t figure something out, this already rough season will become even bumpier.

The problem with the bullpen is not that they are always bad. If that were the case, the solution would be easy. Trade for new pieces, or sign free agents to replace them.  The problem is, every reliever has at some point, or another flashed signs of brilliance.

This bullpen is either feast or famine. Which means, they will be dominant or they will get lit up by an opposing offense. There hasn’t been an in between for them. Either really good or really bad, and that is a problem.

A contributing factor to this is Dave Roberts. In no way am I suggesting Roberts is not the right guy for the job in Los Angeles. However, he has made some very suspect decisions early on into the season. Of course, Roberts will get the heat; every manager does when his team is underperforming. Roberts is just under a microscope even more because he was out managed by AJ Hinch on the biggest stage of his managerial career.

It is for a good reason that Roberts is under a microscope. He does so many things, so well as a manager, but he can be too quick to yank a starter from a start or remove a reliever from a tough situation.

This season Roberts has continually put his relievers in a position to be unsuccessful. The bullpen has been taxed early on. With injury after injury, bad starts and pitch count worries, the bullpen has been used early and often into the season.

Roberts is partly responsible for this. The only defined role on this bullpen belongs to Kenley Jansen, other than that he is taking a stab in the dark, in who he should use in high leverage situations. Roberts has used almost every reliever available to him in the highest leverage spot at least once. He once again is quick to dismantle and rearrange the bullpen configuration.

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Now it’s just a matter of what came first the chicken or the egg? In the case of the Dodgers, the question is: Who is to blame? The bullpen for being inconsistent for forcing Roberts to rearrange so quickly, or is it Roberts for not defining roles and leaving question marks that lead to inconsistencies in the bullpen.

The bullpen does not need guys set up for every inning. However, they should know when they will be utilized. Similar to last season. Morrow was the high leverage-guy, Stripling was the innings eater, Cingrani was the lefty specialist, and Baez was the second high-leverage guy. This season there are no defined roles and not knowing when you will pitch can hurt a pitchers preparation.

Not to mention a players psyche can be hurt after being moved away from a bigger role. Which is happening nearly daily with the revolving door that is the high-leverage situation. Tom Koehler was supposed to be that guy, but he went down with an injury. Thus starting the scramble.

Cingrani would get a shot ad was dominant early but got touched up in a few games, and Roberts pulled the trigger and gave the keys to Chargois. The same result, Baez got his 100^th chance to be the guy that gets the ball to Jansen and failed miserably. Liberatore got one shot at it and whiffed. Scott Alexander couldn’t find the strike zone when he got the chance, and now we are back to square one.

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So if Roberts could just stick to his guns for more than one bad outing that would be great. Well, that is with the exception of Baez. He is a good situation guy but put him in a high-leverage situation, and he’s toast. Give everyone more than one shot to prove their worth (except Baez, he’s had way too many).  With so many bullpen struggles, is Dave Roberts to blame for his tendency to pull the wrong strings?