It’s not a pleasant thought but it’s a painful truth – the Dodgers bullpen is no better today than it was on opening day. In fact, it may be even worse.

The back end of the bullpen is fine with J.P. Howell, Brandon League, Kenley Jansen and (gulp) occasionally Brian Wilson. Newcomers Pedro Baez and Carlos Frias haven’t done bad either but both are unlikely to make the playoff roster, not to mention the fact that Frias is actually a starter. Where things begin to fall apart is with Jamey Wright, Kevin Correia and (uggh) Chris Perez, who is expected to rejoin the team as early as Monday.

J. P. Howell has been outstanding this season, Brandon League pretty good and Kenley Jansen the proverbial lights out.
(Photo credit – Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Brad Rempel and Jeff Gross)

Although Jamey Wright has been a workhorse for the Dodgers over the past two seasons and although he is currently sporting a 4-4 record and 3.90 ERA on the season, he is 0-2 with an atrocious 11.37 ERA since August 15. In that time frame he has allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits while walking two and striking out four in 6.1 innings pitched.

As for Kevin Correia, he has been a starter for most of his 12-year MLB career and was recently acquired by the Dodgers to fill in for left-handed long reliever Paul Maholm, who himself was having an awful season that ended abruptly when he tore the ACL in his right knee and is lost for the season. Correia was used as a spot starter when Hyun-jin Ryu landed on the DL but was sent to the bullpen just last week. He made his first relief appearance on Friday night against the Padres and gave up the game-winning walk-off hit and, quite frankly, did not look very confident coming out of the pen.

And then there’s Chris Perez, who has been rehabbing his right ankle (bone spurs) with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. In his five rehab innings of work, Perez went 0-1 allowing five earned runs and six hits for a Chris Perez-like 9.00 ERA. He struck out two while walking one. In simple terms, Chris Perez in no better now than at any time during the season and stands to hurt the Dodgers more than help them.

With September 1 looming large and the waiver trade deadline falling tonight at 9:00  PM (PT), Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti and manager Don Mattingly have undoubtedly been scrutinizing their September call-ups and subsequent roster moves. In doing so there is one guy who they better have not overlooked – a guy who has not only proven himself MLB-ready, but he is also already on the 40-man roster; and get this… he is a lefty, of which the Dodgers currently have exactly one in their bullpen in J.P. Howell.

So who is this under-the-radar guy?

He’s 25-year-old Bakersfield native Jarret Martin.

Martin made two appearances with the Dodgers during spring training in which he did not allow a run while giving up one hit, striking out two and walking two in two innings of work.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

After spending nearly all of spring training in big league camp Martin was assigned to Double-A Chattanooga, where he has spent the entire season. Used exclusively as a reliever, Martin posted a 1-1 record and 3.33 ERA with the Lookouts. He appeared in 45 games where he struck out 63 and walked 47 (one intentionally) in 54 innings pitched. He also converted seven saves in seven opportunities for the Lookouts. And while these are not off-the-chart-type numbers, they are certainly as good or better than several of the Dodgers current relief staff.

I know… I know, minor league numbers rarely translate into MLB numbers, but let’s be honest here – isn’t Martin worth a look to see if he can do as good or even better than Perez, Wright or Correia, not to mention giving some much-needed rest for the over-used J.P. Howell?

With Jarret Martin already on the Dodgers 40-man roster and with the success that he enjoyed at Chattanooga this season, calling Martin up on September 1 is a low risk/potentially high reward proposition for a team kicking and scratching to make the postseason.

This one is a no-brainer, Ned.