3 surprising players carrying Dodgers during season-opening hot streak

3. Andrew Heaney

2. Andrew Heaney

1. Andrew Heaney

Nah, just yanking your chain. Since The Heandog sadly hit the Injured List on Wednesday afternoon, we’ll do you one better and provide you with three other active surprises who’ve helped carry the 2022 Dodgers to a hot start.

Consider Heaney an honorable mention atop an overflowing list of Dodgers who’ve been excellent in April, many of whom carried low expectations on Opening Day. After all, after a spring training (and 2021 … and 2020 …) like that, how confident can you really be in some of these folks?

So, yes, Heaney gets a pat on the back for his 10.1 innings of four-hit ball with 16 whiffs. So does Evan Phillips, who went from potential bullpen fodder and a DFA candidate early in the season to a Pitching Ninja regular with his ridiculous breaking stuff. Think he might be a keeper.

Ditto red-hot Dodgers like (breathes way, way in): Tyler Anderson, Alex Vesia, Austin Barnes, Brusdar Graterol, Justin Bruihl … truly, almost anyone who’s put on the uniform so far, save for the Rockies series to open the campaign. Isn’t that how it always goes?

On top of that massive pile of success, though, these three players stood out. For the long odds they overcame. For the feeling of relief that comes with a particularly great opening month. For the redemption of it all. These three Dodgers have been the most surprising torch-carriers so far in a sprint to the top of the NL West.

3 surprise Dodgers who’ve helped carry 2022 Dodgers

3. Cody Bellinger

Spring! Training! Is! Meaningless!

Early in a shortened 2022 camp, Cody Bellinger looked exactly like the old Bellinger — not the 2018 MVP version. That edition seemed so “old” that any recovery mission meant to find it would come up empty-handed.

No, 2022 Bellinger looked like 2021 Bellinger all over again. Stiff, full of holes, and firmly benchable, considering the Dodgers were once again bringing an All-Star team to play and couldn’t be dragged down by nostalgia.

In the early going of the regular season, though, not only is Bellinger’s swagger back, but so is his penchant for extra-base hits. Through 12 games, the 26-year-old (STILL 26!!) has posted three doubles, a triple and two bombs, OPS+ing 156 and piling up 0.5 WAR.

Compare that to when we last saw him, when he was actively subtracting WAR from a team that ultimately lost the NL West by just a single game, and slugged to a stunningly low 45 OPS+ relative to the rest of the league.

From being a shoo-in long-term contract on the Dodgers’ books to being entirely lost and back again, Bellinger has taken a powerful first step in reestablishing a possible future in Los Angeles. Again, he is 26 years old, which seems outright impossible.

Last time, he might’ve cratered and bent under the weight of high expectations. This season, Bellinger has responded to adversity powerfully, reversing course just when things looked bleakest.

1. Tony Gonsolin

In the sixth inning of Wednesday’s game, Dave Roberts became the first manager in MLB history to wish for his own pitcher to have a no-hitter busted up and get it granted.

Such is the luxury of managing a pitching staff like this. The Dodgers aren’t worried about whether or not their pitchers, young and old, will succeed. They’re mostly concerned about whether they’ll put too many dominant innings on their arms and create extra stress.

Gonsolin became the latest moundsman to flirt with a no-no in Wednesday afternoon’s win over the Braves, a way-easier-than-expected contest that landed the eccentric right-hander firmly on MLB’s ERA leaderboard. Yes, he really did finish a 4/20 start with an 0.69 ERA.

A bit misleading? Sure; he’s not missing many bats (eight whiffs in 13 innings) and has a slightly-elevated WHIP of 1.231, proving he’s stranding plenty of runners so far.

But you know what’s not misleading? Since the start of 2019, Gonsolin has a top-three ERA of all MLB starters who meet a 30-start threshold.

Not insignificant.

When the 2022 Dodgers season opened, the back of the rotation looked like a mishmash of four-inning starters and piggyback candidates.

Two times through the order, though, Gonsolin, Heaney, Tyler Anderson and even David Price have all proven to be competent placeholders for Dustin May’s return.

And if May doesn’t make it back full strength, there are more than enough arms to cover the space here.

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