The stars of a starring Dodger bullpen
by Rowan Kavner
At his disposal, manager Dave Roberts can turn to one of six active Dodger relievers with a sub-1.00 ERA, or one of six with a sub-1.00 WHIP or one of five who’ve allowed one or no earned runs in 10 or more innings of work.
The Dodger bullpen continued to do its thing Friday night after Walker Buehler’s dominant 11-strikeout performance, adding three perfect innings to a resume that includes the Major Leagues’ best ERA (1.81) and WHIP (0.98).
Dodger bullpen coach Josh Bard credited the work of pitching coach Mark Prior, assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness and director of player performance Brandon McDaniel for staying on the pitchers during the break, often with little access to equipment, keeping their arms going and ensuring their physical readiness.
“That credit goes to those guys and obviously the player,” Bard said. “The whole driving down to the city park and throwing it against the net, it seems like that’d be an easy thing but after the third week of it when you’re an elite professional baseball player, sometimes that can get a little monotonous. Kudos to these guys that they kept competing, trying to stay ready. It speaks to the culture Dave built here.”
Kenley Jansen is limiting hard-hit contact at the best rate of his career, but the bridge to the Dodger closer has been equally exceptional. The left-handers in the bullpen have allowed a combined four earned runs in 40 2/3 innings pitched — including one pitcher who hasn’t allowed a run in nine innings and two who’ve struck out 15 batters with only one run allowed.
Then there’s Blake Treinen, who holds a 0.82 ERA with a career-best .175 expected batting average against. There’s Dylan Floro, a pitcher Roberts singles out in particular as a player who’s taken the most strides since Summer Camp for his consistency on his way to allowing one run through his first 12 1/3 innings. And there’s Brusdar Graterol, whose triple-digit heat and youthful enthusiasm add a different element to the group.
“We’ve got really good pitchers who are hungry to go out there and pitch, and it’s been a blessing in some ways because we’ve been able to protect some of our high leverage guys,” Bard said.
The Dodgers can afford to let their best late-inning relievers get plenty of rest because of the breadth of talent available and the expanded rosters.
It’s taken a group effort for the Dodgers to become one of the most overpowering groups in baseball, holding opponents to just eight earned runs from the seventh inning on through the first 28 games of the season. Here’s a quick look at some of the standouts of the group:
Kenley Jansen
He’s a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities, and he’s allowed just four hits and a run in 11 1/3 innings (0.79 ERA).
Jansen is throwing the cutter at a similar speed to last year, but he’s managing to limit hard contact while getting more swing and miss on his secondary pitches, which he’s incorporating more often. That’s resulted in the lowest exit velocity (80.9 mph) and hard-hit rate (4.2 percent) of his career.
Roberts: “I think Kenley is certainly getting back to where he was before. I think that’s a good thing for all of us, mostly Kenley. He’s been fighting a lot of things over the last couple years, but certainly in the ninth inning when we have the lead, to be able to call on him and know that it’s lockdown, that’s a good thing for all of us.”
Blake Treinen
Treinen has allowed five runs in 11 innings, but only one of those runs is earned. The sinker-slider mix looks much more like it did in his All-Star 2018 season than it did last year — and so does his 0.82 ERA.
Treinen’s .175 batting average against is the best mark of his career. He gotten back to throwing more of the slider, which opponents are batting .071 against this season. Treinen said the Dodger coaching staff brought a collective approach finding the right arm slot for him to succeed.
Roberts: “He’s a tremendous worker, guys love him on the team. I think he feels comfortable here in a Dodger uniform. Just a guy like him who’s had so much success being open to whatever we ask of him I think is very helpful for all of us.”
Jake McGee
Adding a couple ticks to his four-seamer velocity, with the help of some mechanical tweaks that allowed him to get behind the baseball, has paid dividends in his first season with the Dodgers as he relies almost solely on the fastball.
His 40.5 strikeout percentage is by far the best mark of his career. McGee has allowed just one run on three hits and three walks with 15 strikeouts through his first 10 innings as a Dodger. In the eighth inning of games, McGee hasn’t allowed a run in 4 1/3 innings.
“They said they had a few things they saw and some video and things in the past,” McGee said. “Being comfortable with Andrew (Friedman) and Brandon Gomes, I saw a lot of upside, too, to come over here. It feels really comfortable.”
Caleb Ferguson
Like McGee, Ferguson has also benefited from a jump in velocity. At 95.6 mph on his fastball, he’s throwing harder than ever before and pitching better than ever before in his third big league season.
Ferguson started incorporating a cutter/slider mix this year that’s helped take his game to another level. Opponents are batting just .100 against the pitch and .147 against him overall. Ferguson’s numbers are near identical to McGee’s, with 15 strikeouts and one run allowed in 10 1/3 innings (0.87 ERA). He’s thrown more in the seventh inning than any Dodger pitcher and has held opponents scoreless in the frame.
Roberts: “He’s really found a routine every day that’s really kept him consistent in his delivery. I think that slider/cutter thing he’s got now and has confidence in is a real weapon. He can strike it, he can shorten it. So I think that, also, this is his third season. He’s really found his confidence and who he is. I still think there’s more in there though.”
Dylan Floro
Floro lowered his ERA from 4.24 last year to 0.73 so far in 2020, allowing one run with 10 strikeouts and a walk in his first 12 1/3 innings.
Roberts singled Floro out as a particular standout because of his consistency going multiple innings and getting left-handers out this year. Lefties are 2-for-18 against him this year after hitting .339 against him last season. His changeup has been particularly effective, with opponents batting .143 against the pitch, and his walk rate is the lowest of his career.
Scott Alexander
There was a time last year where Alexander, dealing with nerve damage in his thumb, didn’t know if he’d ever pitch again. A late arrival to Summer Camp after dealing with COVID-19, Alexander has returned with a vengeance with one earned run allowed through his first eight appearances (1.08 ERA).
The groundball pitcher has gotten his groundball rate up from 61 percent last year to 66.7 percent this season, while his strikeout rate has more than doubled to 24.2 percent.
“Our pitching staff, our coaching staff, have done a great job just helping us with mechanics and really getting out pitches locked in,” Alexander said. “Very thankful and fortunate to be out there again.”
Adam Kolarek
Kolarek bounced around early this season between the big league club and the alternate site as he worked on getting his arm slot more consistent. No longer a lefty specialist as he deals with baseball’s three-batter minimum, Kolarek has responded by throwing nine scoreless innings to start the year.
He’s still making life miserable for lefties, who are 1-for-13 against him, but he’s also held righties to a .176 average with no extra-base hits.
Brusdar Graterol
Bard described Graterol as a ball of sunshine. Roberts said the 21-year-old flamethrower is always cheerful and grateful to be on the field — whether it’s shagging balls in the outfield, cheering on teammates from the bullpen or getting batters out on the mound.
The triple-digit heat he brings offers a different element to the group. Most notably, he’s touching 100 mph while only allowing one walk through his first 9 2/3 innings this season.
Roberts: “Guys just have really gravitated toward him. I think for me it’s just that youthful enthusiasm component that’s certainly refreshing.”
