Andrew Friedman doubling down on conservative trade deadline will enrage Dodgers fans

On Wednesday night, the Dodgers were holding a tenuous one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth over the Angels as they tried to wrestle a sweep away from Anaheim. LA had used five relievers behind Emmet Sheehan on Tuesday, including Edgardo Henriquez, who pitched the longest outing of any of them at 1 1/3 innings, and he didn't even give up a hit.

Henriquez was trotted out again on Wednesday to try to put up his first save of the season, and he gave up a go-ahead two-run homer and eventually game-winning RBI single to Logan O'Hoppe.

Henriquez can't be very high on Dave Roberts' trust tree, but the guy Roberts probably would've preferred to go to in that scenario — Brock Stewart — had just gone onto the IL after pitching just over four innings following the trade deadline. Henriquez came up in his place.

Stewart was the only impact bullpen addition Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers' front office made at the trade deadline ... then he was bad ... and then he got injured. The Dodgers were left to turn to internal options that they never seemed to have much confidence in.

When asked if he regretted not making more deals to shore up the bullpen, Friedman said, "We don't live like that. There's deals that we thought made sense for us we pursued hard. It's not like we had the potential to do a deal where we were like, 'no' and now we wish we would have. It's always that balance. Lining up on a trade is hard. We feel good about the work we put in and the group that we have."

Andrew Friedman has completely unsatisfying answer for Dodgers' lack of trade deadine bullpen moves

The Dodgers are ever hopeful that their injured pitchers will be able to make it back for the postseason. Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech are progressing and should be on rehab assignments soon. The argument always seems to be that the regular season doesn't matter; if everyone's healthy in October, the Dodgers will be good to go.

But their loss to the Angels marked what was at one point a nine-game lead over the Padres and turned it into a one-game deficit. The Dodgers are now second in the Wild Card standings behind the Cubs and ahead of the Mets, who very well may soon lose their spot to the encroaching Reds.

In all likelihood, the Dodgers will still make it to the postseason, but there was a time when no one thought the Padres were going to catch up like this. Friedman's lack of additions have at least partially and temporarily given the Dodgers one more series to play in October — still with no assurances that everyone's going to be healthy when they need them to be.