Remember back in spring training when many baseball experts and analysts predicted that the Dodgers would have one of the best bullpens in all of baseball, if not the best bullpen? How could they not when they have four guys who could be closers on any other team in the MLB. They have returning closer Kenley Jansen, former Mariners closer Brandon League, former Giants closer Brian Wilson and recently signed former Indians closer Chris Perez. All of the guys are considered among the best in the game today.

But as the old saying goes, things aren’t always as they appear and to be brutally honest, the Dodgers bullpen has been… well… awful.

Oh sure, you can jump on the old “It’s still early” bandwagon – you know, that ridiculous cliche that you only hear from losing teams but never from winning teams. But the painful truth is that they Dodgers bullpen has lost more games than any other team in all of baseball. You heard correctly, the Dodgers bullpen leads all of baseball with nine losses and ranks a pitiful 25th in wins with only four wins. And while they rank second in saves with 12 (Jansen has 11 of them), they rank 10th in blown saves with five.

Although Chris Perez began the season as the best reliever in the Dodgers bullpen, his last two outing have been disasters. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Through 34 games, or roughly 21% of their entire season, the Dodgers bullpen ranks 18th in ERA at 3.94; second in walks allowed with 64; sixth in hits allowed with 106, eighth in doubles allowed with 22, 15th in triples with two, and 20th in home runs allowed with eight. Collectively they have a batting average against (BAA) of .239 which ranks 15th. To their credit, the Dodgers bullpen ranks second in strikeouts with 130 (six fewer than the Diamondbacks). Unfortunately they are tied for second in hit batsmen with eight – one fewer than the Orioles.

When you have a bullpen with these kind of numbers it should come as no surprise that the Dodgers bullpen ranks second in all of baseball with a combined total of 121.0 innings pitched – exactly 0.1 fewer than the Diamondbacks with 121.1.

It seems that everyday Dodgers manager Don Mattingly tells the media that he needs to have his starters go longer to give his weary bullpen a rest. But the truth of the matter is that the Dodgers starters have been doing an exceptional job – especially when you consider that they were without the services of ace Clayton Kershaw for over a month. No, the real reason why the Dodgers bullpen is exhausted is because they struggle to get the final nine outs almost every game. This forces Mattingly to bring in three, four or five relievers almost every game. It’s no wonder that their exhausted.

Through their first 34 games, Jansen has already appeared in 19 games, J.P. Howell in 18, Chris Perez and Jamey Wright 16, Chris Withrow 14, Brandon League and Brian Wilson 12, Paco Rodriguez 10, Jose Dominguez five and Pedro Baez one. (Starter Paul Maholm has also made three relief appearances thus far).

The point is that the Dodgers bullpen is creating their own workload and are the cause of their own exhaustion, and unless this changes and soon, the bullpen will only get worse.

Is their a solution?

You bet their is, but it’s going to require Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti to eat his pride and Dodgers ownership to eat some salaries – most notably that of Brian Wilson. As noted here on Think Blue LA several times this season, there is something wrong with Wilson, possibly mentally but more likely physically. He has lost his command of the strike zone and his velocity is down considerably. You just don’t go from a 0.66 ERA in 13.2 innings to end the 2013 season to an ERA of 11.42 in 8.2 innings to begin the 2014 season. Even though Mattingly has said repeatedly that he intends to use Wilson only in non-stress situations until he builds up innings and strength, the rest of the bullpen has made it impossible to keep him out of high-stress games because they themselves continue to create them, forcing Mattingly to use everybody in his bullpen almost nightly. Why not put Wilson on the DL and bring up Paco Rodriguez or Jose Dominguez or Pedro Baez or Jarret Martin in his place until Wilson rights his ship?

One has to believe that Dodgers bullpen coach Chuck Crim (right) is beginning to feel some heat because of the struggles his relievers are having. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

To be fair and to the surprise of many, Brandon League has done exceptionally well thus far this season. And even though he continues to be what one Dodgers beat reported referred to as a “punching bag by the fans,” League is second to only Chris Withrow in ERA in the Dodgers bullpen 1.96 to 0.61 respectively. Ironically. because Withrow has a tendency to walk a lot of batters and then pitch himself out of his own jams, League actually has a lower WHIP than Withrow 1.04 to 1.09 respectively.

While several Dodger relievers have struggled horribly of late, Brandon League has been very good. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Although there is no time frame for when number three starter Hyun-jin Ryu is expected to return to the starting rotation, when he does, Maholm will most likely be moved to the bullpen – this in spite of the fact that Maholm has been a starter throughout his entire 10-year MLB career. That being said, having him in the bullpen will not only gives the Dodgers a second lefty in the pen (along with J.P. Howell), it also gives them a long reliever and/or a spot starter if needed.

The bottom line is that something has to give with the Dodgers bullpen and soon, because what was that predicted as one of the best bullpens in all of baseball thus far is anything but.