If Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and new general manager Farhan Zaidi have taught us anything, they have taught us that these are not the Ned Colletti Dodgers. Gone are the days when lengthy and/or expensive contracts dictate who stays and who goes. One need look no further than former Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson or even former Dodgers fan-favorite Matt Kemp to see proof of this.

If Friedman and Zaidi see a weak link in their roster, they are not afraid to get rid of that link regardless of the price. They cut Wilson loose without a second thought completely eating the $9.5 million still owed to him and they ate $30 million of Kemp’s contract in order to save $76 million when they traded him to the San Diego Padres.

For the second time in three nights Dodgers right-hander Chris Hatcher entered the game and allowed the first two batters to reach base without recording an out. Of those four base runners, three of them scored. Additionally, the 30-year-old Kinston, North Carolina native has more losses than any other Dodger pitcher with four, has the worst ERA on the team at 6.91, leads all Dodger relievers in allowing inherited runners to score with six and has two blown saves – all of this in only 14.1 innings pitched.

In his last two appearances, Hatcher has allowed three runs on three hits with a walk, all without recording an out. One has to wonder how much longer the Dodgers brass will put up with this.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

On Wednesday night Hatcher entered the game in the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves with the score tied 1-1, this following yet another stellar performance Zack Greinke and a scoreless 1-2-3 seventh inning by Yimi Garcia. Hatcher promptly gave up a leadoff single to Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons followed by a four-pitch walk to pinch hitter Todd Cunningham, prompting Dodgers manager Don Mattingly to come and get him. Hatcher was relieved by normally surefire lefty Adam Liberatore, but on this night Liberatore was anything but, allowing both of Hatcher’s base runners to score what would prove to be the winning runs.

“I would say I’m executing my pitches, but I’m not getting results,” Hatcher told reporters after the game. “It’s extremely frustrating, that showed tonight. They were trying to give me an out and I couldn’t throw a strike. I got no words for you, it’s just really frustrating. … I feel like every ball put in play is a hit off me recently. A couple of those were poor pitches, but what’s frustrating is when you execute your pitch and somehow the ball still finds the ground or the guy ends up on first.”

It’s difficult to find where Hatcher is executing his pitches. Granted, he’s consistently hitting 96 and 97-MPH with his fastball, but three of the last four batters he has faced have reached base on hits (two singles and a double) and he walked the fourth guy on four pitches. I’m not convinced that Friedman and Zaidi would consider this executing his pitches. In fact, even Mattingly is beginning to show concern over Hatcher.

“We know his stuff is there and we know he’s capable, so don’t lose faith in him,” Mattingly said. “I know it’s been a kind of a little bit of a roller coaster with him, but also a few of the other guys out there, getting to Kenley [Jansen], got off to a really good start early. It’s a little bit more of not quite as consistent as it was really early, but it’s something that we’ve been talking about and obviously looking at.”

You can bet that if Friedman and Zaidi are talking about and looking at Hatcher, it’s probably safe to say that they’re not liking what they are seeing. And although the two Dodgers execs are big into sabermetrics and analytics such as Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) which basically amounts to prognostication, it’s hard to believe that they haven’t noticed the more tangible things like wins and losses and Earned Run Average, and Hatcher is 1-4 with an ERA pushing seven.

With Farhan Zaidi, Andrew Friedman and Don Mattingly talking about and looking at the Dodgers bullpen, Chris Hatcher better step up his game real soon if he wants to remain with the team.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Another thing to keep in mind is that earlier in the day on Wednesday, Friedman and Zaidi designated right-hander Sergio Santos for assignment to clear a roster spot for Chris Heisey. And while Santos is certainly not the power arm that Hatcher is, his record with the Dodgers was 0-0 and his ERA 4.73 – both of which are better than Hatcher’s.