You know what you’re not hearing much these days around Dodger Stadium? You’re not hearing “It’s still early” – and there’s a reason for that. “It’s still early” is something that teams doing poorly say, not teams that are doing well. In other words, it’s an excuse, not an explanation. And make no mistake about it, the Dodgers are doing very well.

With 12 games now in the books, the Dodgers are 9-3 and a game and a half ahead of the San Diego Padres in the NL West. They lead the league in runs, doubles, walks, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

In Sunday’s 7-0 shellacking of the Colorado Rockies, their first shutout of the young season, the Dodgers continued to flex their offensive muscles – this time led by part timers Scott Van Slyke, Justin Turner and even the struggling A.J. Ellis. On the day Van Slyke, who usually only sees action against lefties, went 3 for 4 with a home run (his first of the season) and three RBIs. Turner had a career day going 4 for 5 with three doubles and an RBI and Ellis went 2 for 4 (his first two hits of the year) with a double. In fact, every Dodger position player had a hit in Sunday’s matinee game except Andre Ethier who drew a walk and Adrian Gonzalez who saw his MLB-leading .523 batting average plummet to an MLB-leading .469 after an 0 for 5 day at the plate. It also brought an end to his 11-game hitting streak but did see him start another streak – albeit a rather dubious one.

But something else happened in Sunday’s game – something that went under the radar by most Dodger fans. Appearing in only his second MLB game, left-handed reliever Adam Liberatore pitched two scoreless inning. In fact, the soon-to-be 28-year-old who grew up a Dodger fan in nearby Bellflower, has yet to allow a base runner through his first three innings in the big leagues. Granted, this is an insanely small sample size, but when you take into account that the hard-throwing lefty did not allow a run (earned or otherwise) in his 10.1 innings of work during spring training while striking out nine and walking only three, you can see why Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi are really high on this kid.

Adam Liberatore has been perfect in his three innings of work thus far with three strikeouts.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although Liberatore is now a member of a bullpen that has allowed only one earned run in the last six games, his spot is tenuous at best. With Dodgers starter Hyun-jin Ryu likely to return to the 25-man roster within the next two or three weeks and with Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen now less than a month away from returning from foot surgery, Liberatore figures to be the first (or second) to be optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City – that’s the bad news. The good news is that should any of the other Dodger relievers begin to struggle or (Heaven forbid) go down with an injury, Liberatore is but a phone call and plane ride away from returning the The Show.

But regardless of Liberatore’s short-term fate, it’s going to be fun every time that bullpen gate swings open and number 36 emerges out onto the field, that’s for sure.