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3 reasons Dodgers fans shouldn't panic about the struggling bullpen
It's been an odd season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team has been great offensively and able to match the pace of the 2022 Dodgers despite losing several key players last offseason. However, the one constant of the team — its pitching staff — has been holding them back.
The Dodgers bullpen has been incredibly problematic this season and has been one of the worst in the entire sport. With a 4.90 ERA, the Dodgers' bullpen currently has the second-highest ERA in all of baseball and the highest ERA in the National League. That's not a recipe for success.
While it's easy to get wrapped up in the awful results and panic over the summer, there are reasons to be optimistic about the long-term potential of this unit. It may look bleak now, but as long as the Dodgers can stay in the playoff picture, the bullpen may not be as big of an issue come October.
3 reasons Dodgers fans shouldn't panic over the struggling bullpen
There's a trade deadline for a reason
The Dodgers consistently have one of the best farm systems in baseball and have continually shown the willingness to trade prospects for in-season additions. This year should be no different and the main focus should be the bullpen.
Luckily for the Dodgers, impact relievers might be the easiest thing to add at the deadline. The cost of these relievers isn't as high as an impact bat and there's always a laundry list of teams willing to part ways with their good relievers for young prospects.
There are several names the Dodgers could add to the bullpen via trade that would instantly provide the shot in the arm the team needs. The organization also has the resources to be aggressive and add more than one of them.
Fans have seen the Dodgers do this before as well. The 2017 bullpen wasn't in the best shape so the front office went out and traded for Tony Watson, Tony Cingrani and Sergio Romo. With better names on the market this year, the Dodgers' pen can improve even more.
The Dodgers have an excess of pitching talent in the minor leagues to call up
The Dodgers really can undergo a complete renovation of the bullpen this season if need be. Not only can the team add multiple impact arms to the bullpen via the trade market, but the Dodgers could also call up several promising arms from the minor leagues to pitch out of the bullpen.
Los Angeles has an excess of pitching talent in the minor leagues, giving the team options with both trades and promotions. It might be frustrating to hear this right now while the big-league bullpen is struggling, but the Dodgers are rightfully playing the long game.
It might seem counterintuitive but it's not absurd for MLB teams to give their established bullpen arms a chance to get right before turning to the youth in the farm system. The worst thing a team can do is rush pitchers before they are ready, and that's what the Dodgers are avoiding. If they can just stay in the hunt and give the young arms in the system more time in the minors, they'll be better prepared when their number is called.
Plus, several of these promising pitchers are starting in the minor leagues. The Dodgers don't want to hamper their development as starters by calling them up too early to pitch out of the bullpen. It's much more beneficial to everyone involved if they continue to start in the minors before coming to the big leagues in late summer to lessen their workload and finish the season out of the bullpen.
Some exciting names to keep an eye on are Landon Knack, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan and Nick Frasso. All four guys are currently in AA with the Tulsa Drillers but could make the climb to the big leagues before the postseason starts.
The starting rotation getting healthy will only benefit the Dodgers bullpen
This is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of the Dodgers' current pitching situation. The team has been absolutely destroyed by injuries in the starting rotation and that's going to have an effect on the bullpen. It has taxed the bullpen more and caused Dave Roberts to use low-leverage guys in high-leverage spots.
The Dodgers starting rotation getting healthy will help take some of the stress off of the bullpen in the regular season. However, in the postseason, the Dodgers will have the ability to move certain starters to the bullpen.
We've seen this strategy work several times in October baseball. Look at the 2019 Washington Nationals. That was a team with a great offense, good starting pitching, and a bad bullpen with only a few reliable arms. Washington finished with the second-highest bullpen ERA in the sport! So what did they do? They leaned heavily on their great starting pitching both in starts and out of the bullpen.
The Dodgers can do the same if they get closer to full strength. Just picture this: the Dodgers have a playoff rotation of Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin. In the bullpen, the team now has Bobby Miller, a healthy Ryan Pepiot, and a returning Walker Buehler. Hmmm. That sounds a lot better, doesn't it?
Obviously, no team gets through a season with a clean bill of health. But let's continue this thought experiment. In addition to the trio of starters in the bullpen, the Dodgers also get Daniel Hudson and Jimmy Nelson back from injury.
Suddenly, the Dodgers could have a bullpen that's nothing like the one currently pitching. Those five arms are better than just about everyone currently in the Dodgers bullpen. Add in 2-3 trade deadline acquisitions and 1-2 big-league call ups and all of a sudden the bullpen is a strength, not a weakness.
Things are bad right now. And it's easy to forecast future success based on the status quo at this point in time. But let's not forget that what we're seeing right now is the worst it can possibly get, and the Dodgers are only going to go up from here.