Dodgers: Shane Greene didn’t back up ‘smack’ talk in LAD debut

The Los Angeles Dodgers appear content to acquire any potential bullpen help they can following the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the only trade deadline we’ve got in the modern game.

Anybody who might be able to eat innings down the stretch? Come on down, recognizable name or not.

LA was able to snag one of the more prominent names available in sinker-baller Shane Greene, who hit the open market following his release from the Atlanta Braves.

Greene, an integral part of last season’s Braves bullpen, had to wait quite a while for a reunion to come this offseason, then inked a one-year deal and posted an 8.47 ERA in 17 innings of baseball without a proper spring training.

Suffice to say, the Dodgers probably didn’t expect all that much from their acquisition of the former All-Star, but were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

Greene? He expected to contribute, and was doubly motivated by the fact that the 2020 Dodgers apparently “stole” a title from his Braves by coming back from 3-1 down in the NLCS.

Dodgers reliever Shane Greene thinks the Braves got their World Series “stolen” last year.

“Stolen” in the traditional sense, of course, not the 2017 Astros sense. Greene simply believes his Braves had victory in their grasp, only for it to be wrestled away by the Dodgers and their eminent superiority. Happens to the best of us.

Therefore, we completely understand why he’d want to be on the winning side of things when given the chance.

Unfortunately, in his first showcase opportunity on Sunday, he looked a lot like he had been in Atlanta earlier in the season. Greene entered the game in the ninth with the Dodgers down 5-2 and the Mets apparently en route to an extremely rare victory.

He didn’t do much to improve the scenario after taking over, opening a clean ninth by inducing a Michael Conforto pop out, allowing a single to Brandon Nimmo, drilling Pete Alonso, drilling Javier Baez, and walking JD Davis to force in a run before being relieved. Bummer.

Greene followed both Phil Bickford and Neftali Feliz on Sunday afternoon in LA’s endless quest to find short-relief bullpen help by scooping up lottery tickets; Bickford struggled, after looking excellent for most of the second half, while Feliz threw a scoreless frame.

We hope Greene ends up being a late-innings weapon for a Dodgers team that doesn’t have a ton of sure things out there. Maybe he even ends up picking up some power sinker tips from the wizard himself, Blake Treinen.

For now, though, it seems as if the ineffective Greene might be the one doing the stealing.

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