When the Dodgers optioned 23-year-old left-handed reliever Paco Rodriguez to Triple-A Albuquerque to make room on the 25-man roster for right-hander Brian Wilson last Tuesday, it left the team at a definite disadvantage. It left them with only one lefty-handed reliever in their bullpen – soon to be 31-year-old (on Friday) Modesto, CA native J.P. Howell.

No one can argue that the Dodgers bullpen is chock-full of talent. In fact, it is projected to be one of the best in all of baseball. And even though the Dodgers remain if first place in the NL West (which, of course, is the ultimate goal), they are 3-3 in their last six games with the bullpen responsible for all three of those losses. Two of those six games went 12-innings forcing Dodgers manager Don Mattingly to use his bullpen heavily, and with Howell as the only lefty in the pen, Mattingly did not have the luxury of utilizing a lefty-lefty match-up after Howell had already been used.

Now granted, in each of those three losses the Dodgers offense was almost non-existent and blew several golden opportunities to win by leaving runners on base and in scoring position, but the bottom line is that the Dodgers bullpen was simply outgunned by their opponents (the Giants and the Diamondbacks) bullpens – both of which have several lefties in them and used them wisely to silence the Dodgers left-handed hitters.

Dodger manager Don Mattingly, who is a big proponent of lefty-lefty pitching match-ups, now has only J.P. Howell to call upon in his bullpen. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

With right-hander Brandon League still owed $7.5 million for each of the next two seasons, it’s no secret or surprise that the Dodgers will do everything that they possibly can to avoid having to eat the remaining money owed to League by designating him for assignment – even if it means sending the far more successful (and left-handed) Paco Rodriguez back down to the minors for no other reason than Rodriguez has options remaining and Brandon League does not. And while no one in the Dodgers organization will ever admit that it’s all about the money, make no mistake about it, it most certainly is.

But will having only one lefty in the bullpen significantly handicap the Dodgers? Not according to Mattingly.

“We started using J.P. [Howell] as a get around last year,” said Mattingly prior to Friday night’s game against the Diamondbacks. “We feel like he gets lefties and righties out, so we’re pretty comfortable with him. If he has to go through a righty to get to another lefty, we’re willing to do that with him. We’ve got a couple guys out there that we’re comfortable with left-right also, a different combination of guys in our pen,” added the Dodgers skipper.

But Mattingly is also aware that having only one left-handed reliever is not an ideal situation, especially when you have several extra-innings games over a short period of time, as the Dodgers have in the past week.

“We’re down to one lefty. It would be nice to have two but we don’t,” admits Mattingly. “But we also have [Chris] Withrow who’s gotten lefties out and Jamey Wright has been pretty good against lefties with his breaking ball, so we’ve got some guys we can use in that role also.”

If the always easy-going and extremely likable J.P. Howell is concerned about being the only lefty in the Dodgers bullpen or what his role is going to be because of it, he certainly doesn’t show it.

“I don’t know what they’re gonna do, man. We’ve got other guys who can get lefties out too, so that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about too much,” Howell said. “I just go and worry about whatever they tell me to do that day and go ahead and do it. Some days it might be one out and some days it might be more than an inning.”

With the likelihood that Howell may be called upon to go longer than he has in the past, has he changed his preparation and approach to the game?

“No no, I’ve prepared the same way for almost six years now,” said a very confident Howell. “It’s a routine I had [in Tampa Bay] with Dan Wheeler, a guy who was a set-up man and a long guy at times, and a one out guy at times, so it’s all the same prep. It looks different from the outside but from within it’s just the same thing, pitching.”

Although the Dodgers have been getting by with only one left-hander in their bullpen for the past week, it is not an idea situation and it changes the way that opposing managers will approach the Dodgers.

“The threat of having two left-handed relievers changes what the opposing manager thinks and does,” said former MLB manager and current DodgerTalk host Kevin Kennedy. “Even with his construction of his starting line-up.”

Not only is Paco Rodriguez a huge fan favorite, but he has been a workhorse in the Dodgers bullpen.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

All of this being said, the dynamics of the Dodgers bullpen will change dramatically when defending NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw returns to the Dodgers rotation. When this happens, and it probably will within the next three or four weeks, left-hander Paul Maholm will undoubtedly be moved from the starting rotation and into the Dodgers bullpen, where he will most likely be used in long relief or as a spot starter if necessary. And while this move will take a huge burden off the shoulders or J.P. Howell, it will also effectively block Paco’s return to the big leagues.

The thing to keep in mind, however, is that the Dodgers rotation and bullpen that we see today will not be the same rotation and bullpen that we will see in October. In the painful and truthful words of Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter, “Pitchers break.”

…and you can take that to the bank.