Did Dodgers just steal another productive pitcher from the Giants?

When the Los Angeles Dodgers swiped Phil Bickford from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in 2021, most fans truly thought it was a ploy to troll the San Francisco Giants, who drafted the right-hander in the first round back in 2015.

Bickford never threw a pitch for the Giants and he owned a 27.00 ERA in two innings of work with the Brew Crew. On the surface at the time, it was understandable if the Dodgers were attempting to play mental warfare.

But what’s happened since? Bickford has emerged as a key member of the Dodgers’ bullpen. He owns a 2.11 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with 29 strikeouts in 22 games (21.1 innings).

Unbelievable.

Perhaps the Dodgers like what they see from former Giants pitchers even more, because they claimed another righty in Jimmie Sherfy this week.

We don’t hate it!

The Dodgers have scooped up another former Giants pitcher in Jimmie Sherfy.

Sherfy, 29, was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 10th round back in 2013 and made his debut in 2017 and registered a wildly good 1.00 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in his first 27 games (27 innings) with the team through the 2018 campaign.

But then came 2019 when he was shelled to the tune of a 5.89 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 17 games (18.1 innings). He was designated for assignment a couple months before the 2020 season and didn’t end up appearing in an MLB game that year.

He made his return in 2021 with the Giants in the middle of June and had a 1.04 ERA in his first eight outings (8.2 innings) before allowing four earned runs in his last two innings of work on July 2 and 5. He was designated for assignment last week and the Dodgers swooped in, seemingly hoping to capitalize on his initial success from June 13-28.

Sherfy’s arsenal consists of a slider (thrown 61.7% of the time) four-seam fastball (37.1%) and a curveball (1.2%). Perhaps the Dodgers like the peripherals on his slider, which feature a .195 expected batting average, .283 expected slugging percentage, and a 22.2% whiff percentage this year.

Oddly enough? He’s similar to Bickford in that he mostly relies on his four-seamer and slider. Did the Dodgers just find their middle of the bullpen construction for the rest of the way? We’ll see how Sherfy performs over the next couple of weeks.

The Dodgers and Giants will do battle seven times before the trade deadline. Maybe we’ll get a double troll with Bickford and Sherfy eating innings in a couple of those games? Yes, please.

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