When things are going well for the Dodgers, their bullpen for the most part goes unnoticed. Oh sure, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen gets a lot of ink, as well he should – he currently leads the majors in saves with nine and hasn’t blown a save since August 23 of last year. Since then he has converted all 21 of his save opportunities. But when the Dodgers were on a roll during the first three weeks of the season, we heard very little about the bullpen … until lately, that is.

During the Dodgers current five-game losing streak, struggles by the bullpen are magnified; seriously magnified. But the reality is, it’s not the Dodgers bullpen or their starting rotation that’s struggling, it’s their entire offense that is solely responsible for the team’s current slide.

Through their first 24 games, the Dodgers are an even .500 at 12-12. Of those 12 wins, the Dodgers bullpen owns five of them, which ranks third best in the National League. They are also responsible for four losses, also third in the NL. However, because of Jansen’s excellence, they lead the league in saves (nine). Ironically, however, they also lead the league in blown saves with five – none of which belong to Jansen.

Where things begin to get dicey and the thing that sends Dodger fans into a frenzy is with inherited runners scoring. Through 24 games, Dodger relievers have inherited 35 runners, seventh most in the NL. Of those 35, more than half of them (18) have scored – most in the NL and only one behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the most in all of baseball. This, of course, is what Dodger fans always seem to notice, especially during a losing streak. But here again, the reality is that the Dodgers 4.08 bullpen ERA ranks in the middle of the pack at seventh in the NL and 20th in the MLB; not great but not horrible either.

Where things begin to get downright ugly is who is allowing the most runs to score out of the Dodgers bullpen, and you don’t have to be a sabermetrics genius to figure this out. Leading the pack is Pedro Baez, who has allowed six inherited runners to score. He is followed by J.P. Howell and Yimi Garcia who both have allowed three inherited runners to score. Then comes Luis Avilan with two followed by Joe Blanton, Louis Coleman, Chris Hatcher and Adam Liberatore with one each, and, of course, Jansen with zero.

When Pedro Baez is good, he’s very very good, but when he’s bad, the Dodgers usually lose.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

However, this does not include runs allowed that were not inherited. In other words, runs that were allowed by relievers who started an inning or entered a game with no runners on base. In these situations Hatcher has allowed 10 runs, Howell seven, Coleman five (four earned), Baez, Garcia and Avilan three each, Liberatore two and Blanton and Jansen one each (Jansen’s in a non-save situation on Friday night).

All of this said, in their last five games, the Dodgers offense is a collective 29 for 159 at the plate for a dismal .182 batting average and only three home runs. But the crusher… the absolute crusher is that the Dodgers are an unacceptable 2 for 33 (.061) with runners in scoring position over those five games – all at Dodger Stadium. They have stranded a total of 38 runners on base and have struck out a total of (brace yourself) 42 times, with Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig leading the pack at seven strikeouts apiece. Ironically, the Dodgers starting pitchers have struck out only once during those five games – Scott Kazmir on Wednesday night against the Marlins.

So goes Adrian Gonzalez, so go the Dodgers, and right now AGon is in one of the worst slumps of his 13-year MLB career. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

So before you join a lynch mob calling for the heads of Messrs. Baez, Hatcher, Howell, Coleman, Garcia, Liberatore, Blanton or Avilan (in Oklahoma City), take a close look at where the the Dodgers real problem is – their complete across-the-board power failure at the plate, not in their bullpen.