They are arguably the six most feared words in the English language for every Dodger fan on the planet … six words that immediately spark a flood of emotion and expression that ranges from sarcastically humorous over social media to outright rage that is anything but funny:

Yet, for reasons that we will probably never know, the Dodgers – more specifically Dodgers manager Dave Roberts – continues to run Pedro Baez out there almost nightly, as did his predecessor Don Mattingly. And almost nightly, it does not end well.

It has gotten to the point where the moment the bullpen gates open and the 6′-0″ / 230-pound Bani, Dominican Republic native (slowly) makes his way to the mound, it is usually to a chorus of boos that tend to increase with each walk, hit, and run that Baez seemingly always gives up.

As of today, April 25, 2018, the Dodgers season is exactly 22 games old, of which the 30-year-old right-hander has appeared in 11 of them. And even though Baez boasts a respectable 2.45 ERA and has struck out 15 of the 47 total batters he has faced thus far this season, he is 0-1 (as a result of Tuesday night’s painful 3-2 loss to the lowly Miami Marlins), has allowed nine hits, and has walked six – three of them with the bases loaded – in his combined 11.0 innings pitched.

If this doesn’t generate boos, nothing will.

When will the Dodgers finally come to grips with the fact that the Pedro Baez experiment has failed?
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

After a ridiculously bad balk call against Dodgers left-hander Tony Cingrani by home plate umpire Joe West (known throughout all of baseball as among the worst umpires in the game) in the top half of the eighth inning that turned a 2-1 Dodgers lead into a tied game (and a blown save for Cingrani), Roberts had star closer Kenley Jansen and Baez begin warming in the Dodgers bullpen, thus prompting those terrifying six words. But when the top of the eighth ended (and Cingrani visibly expressing his opinion of Joe West), Roberts had Jansen sit down while Baez continued to warm, thus confirming that he would pitch the ninth.

He did and, as expected by everyone in Dodger Stadium except for Dave Roberts, it went bad … very bad.

Baez gave up a leadoff single to Marlins third baseman Brian Anderson on the first pitch of the at-bat. This was immediately follow by an RBI double off the bat of Marlins right fielder Cameron Maybin on a 2-2 count to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead. And even tough Baez got former Dodger and current Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas to ground out and struck out center fielder Lewis Brinson, the damage was done in a situation where, quite frankly, Pedro Baez had no business being in.

To his credit, if you choose to call it that, Roberts took full responsibility for making the decision to have Baez pitch the ninth instead of Jansen.

“Kenley in that situation, that was my decision and I just felt that, that part of the order, I felt that I wanted to get Petey through that part of the order, and get Kenley for a different part of the order, and it didn’t work out, and that’s on me,” Roberts said. “For me, it’s just a decision that I made and obviously Kenley’s our closer, and to extend the game, does that give us the best chance? Absolutely.

“But having three guys down (JT Chargois, Josh Fields, and Ross Stripling), and having a short guy in Lib (Adam Liberatore) and [Scott] Alexander left, and to use Petey, who was hot prior, and to burn him, essentially, if we don’t use him right there, I just felt that … I felt good about going with Petey.

“That was a decision and that’s a decision that didn’t work out, and I take full responsibility for it,” Roberts added. “That was the decision I made and going against, essentially, the book, but that was the decision I made.”

The point to all of this and contrary to the hopes and wishes of Roberts, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, and general manager Farhan Zaidi, is that every time that Baez gives us a hint that he has finally turned things around, he falls right back into the same Pedro Baez that we have come to expect.

There is no kind way to say this, but it is time to move on from Pedro Baez – permanently.