When the Dodgers decided to option left-hander Ian Thomas and send him to minor league camp on March 17, it did two things: first, it reduced the number of available left-handed arms in the Dodgers spring training bullpen to three – J.P. Howell, Adam Liberatore and Luis Avilan; second, and perhaps more importantly, it removed the Dodgers best left-handed reliever in big league camp. Yes, Thomas was pitching better than Howell, Liberatore and Avilan at the time.

So why on earth would they option Thomas and keep Liberatore and Avilan – who both also have options remaining? That is the million dollar question – literally.

In his first season of arbitration eligibility, Avilan agreed to a one-year / $1.39 million contract with the Dodgers this past off-season while Liberatore and Thomas are still pre-arbitration eligible and will make the major league minimum in 2016 – if they are on the major league roster, that is. And though this has absolutely nothing to do with success (or failure) on the mound, the Dodgers are naturally going to give the guy making the most money first shot at a spot on their 25-man roster.

Dodgers left-hander Luis Avilan has had a spring training that he would much rather forget.
(Photo credit-Ron Cervenka)

Unfortunately, the Dodgers decision to option Thomas and keep Avilan may have been a bit premature. On Sunday afternoon, Avilan turned a 1-1 tie with the Cincinnati Reds into an eventual 7-6 loss. And even though two of the runners that Avilan inherited from Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda scored and were charged to Maeda, Avilan allowed three earned runs of his own. Simply put, Avilan was awful.

Oh sure, anybody can have a bad game and it certainly wouldn’t be fair to judge the 26-year-old Caracas, Venezuela native on one bad outing. The problem is Avilan has been ineffective all spring. In his eight spring training appearances thus far, Avilan has allowed nine earned runs on 13 hits while walking three and striking out seven in only six innings pitched. His 13.50 spring training ERA is last on the team among all Dodgers relievers still in major league camp.

So, with only six spring training games remaining before the season opener against the Padres on April 4, have Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and the Dodgers brass made a decision about their bullpen yet?

“No, I think that we’re pretty close but I think that if you look a pen … you know, before camp, [non-roster invitee right-hander] Louie Coleman, again, he’s done a lot of things,” Roberts said. “So I think that to your question we haven’t, we’re not finished.

For as bad as Luis Avilan has been this spring, Louis Coleman has been as good.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

The guys who are locks to make what will probably be a seven-man Dodgers bullpen – at least to begin the season – are right-handers Kenley Jansen, Chris Hatcher, Pedro Baez and left-hander J.P. Howell. This leaves left-handers Luis Avilan and Adam Liberatore and right-handers Louis Coleman, Joe Blanton and Jamey Wright fighting it out for the final three spots, with at least one more than likely to be a lefty. And even though the Dodgers have gone with only one left-hander in their bullpen in the past, this is a rather uncomfortable position for the team to be in and puts some pretty heavy pressure on J.P. Howell as the lone southpaw in the pen.

Although Ian Thomas is still on the Dodgers 40-man roster, he is not on the team’s current 25-man roster, as are Avilan and Liberatore. And while the current 25-man roster is in no way set in stone yet, it would take a corresponding roster move to bring Thomas back up. Then again, simply recalling Thomas and optioning Avilan would accomplish exactly that. But is this something that the Dodgers are even considering?

“You don’t want to completely judge on spring training, especially when a guy has a track record, but there’s got to be some success and confidence coming into a season,” said Roberts of Avilan. “When you have two lefties in the pen, both have got to get lefties out. We’ve tried to put him in those spots. As we get toward end of camp, he’s going to get opportunities and we’re going to be looking for him to have more success.”

The last part of that last sentence is exactly the point here – “…we’re going to be looking for him to have more success.” But to be brutally honest here, which left-hander would you rather have in your bullpen on Opening Day, Luis Avilan and his 13.50 spring training ERA or Ian Thomas and his 0.00 ERA, having allowed zero runs and only one hit with one walk and four strikeouts in his 3.0 spring training innings?

Needless to say, it’s going to be a pretty intense final six games for the Dodgers brass regarding their bullpen; even more so for Luis Avilan.