Dodgers: Ten Crucial Questions the Dodgers Have to Answer in 2019

Question 6: Will the bullpen be good enough next October?

The 2018 bullpen was good, but they didn’t really live up to the 2017 bullpen and it showed.  The simple reality is that the Dodger’s bullpen starts and ends with Kenley Jansen.  While he certainly didn’t have a terrible year, he never seemed to really get locked in.  He saved 38 games while posting a respectable 3.01 ERA and 0.99 WHIP but his FIP was 4.03 and his HR/9IP was double his career average.

Kenley’s strikeout to walk plummeted to 4.82 from an otherworldly 15.57.  He still has to be regarded as one of the elite closers in the game, but something just seemed to be a little off last season as compared to the prior few years.  He got off to a slow start, perhaps do to a rather light Spring Training regimen that the Dodgers had hoped would allow his arm to carry them deep into the post-season for the sixth straight year.

Then he had another setback after his heart issue resurfaced in Colorado.  That shut him down again and even after he returned, there was a struggle to get used to the effects of his medication.  I think Jansen is poised to return to his previous dominant form.  He not only came through his second heart surgery in 6 years with flying colors, but came into camp 25 pounds lighter and with something to prove.

Although the Dodgers didn’t pick up one of the elite closers, they did make some additions, most notably Joe Kelly.  Kelly’s 98+ mph average fastball should be a solid addition to the bullpen, either as the set-up man or for high leverage situations.  As far as the supporting cast, Pedro Baez had a very respectable season and performed well down the stretch.

I’ll admit it still made me nervous whenever they called Pedro in, but there wasn’t that sense of dread.  He has had some good stretches in the past, but he always seemed to regress.  Let’s hope this time it sticks.  Caleb Ferguson should only improve on a solid rookie campaign.