It took recently acquired right-hander Ryan Madson all of five pitches in his Dodgers debut to blow his first save – not exactly the kind of first impression you want to make with your new team in front of an often brutally critical Dodger Stadium crowd. In fact, of the 14 total pitches that the just turned 38-year-old (on August 29) Long Beach, California native made in front of a very anxious Dodger Stadium crowd of 48,517 in a game that would be the difference in being in first place or third place in the National League West division when the final out would be recorded, only seven were strikes.

Even during his warm-up tosses, newly acquired right-hander Ryan Madson had difficulty finding the strike zone. He ended up blowing a save on only 14 pitches (seven strikes) in his Dodgers debut on Sunday afternoon.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

In his defense, Madson entered the game with one out and runners on first and second in the top half of the seventh inning with the Dodgers nursing a precarious 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the 6′-6″ / 234-pound 13-year MLB veteran, who arrived in Los Angeles with a less-than-stellar 2-5 record and 5.28 ERA from the Washington Nationals at the August 31 waiver trade deadline (in exchange for minor league right-hander Andrew Istler), walked the first batter he faced, Dbacks shortstop Ketel Marte, on four pitches to load the bases.

On his very next pitch, Dbacks catcher Alex Avila lifted a fly ball to center field, allowing perennial Dodgers nemesis Paul Goldschmidt to tag up and score from third base. 

Just like that and on five pitches, Madson had joined the rather lengthy list of Dodger relievers to blow a save. He did, however, strikeout Dbacks pinch-hitter Socrates Brito to end the threat, but even then needed nine pitches to do so against a guy hitting .111 on the season, albeit in only nine total games.

Arizona would take a 2-1 lead in the top half of the ninth on a solo home run by Dbacks third baseman Daniel Descalso off of Dodgers left-hander Caleb Ferguson, but the Dodgers would ultimately prevail on a dramatic two-run walk-off double by Dodgers All-Star outfielder Matt Kemp – his second game-winning hit in as many days.

The point here is not to bag on Ryan Madson or to judge him based on only one brief appearance, during which he faced a grand total of three batters. In fact and to the contrary, it is to not judge him based on his brief Dodgers debut. The concern, however, is that even during his warm-up tosses on the Dodger Stadium mound prior to facing Marte, it was evident that Madson was having trouble throwing strikes.

Was it merely the adrenaline rush of trying to do well in his debut with his new team, a team that is right in the thick of an insanely close divisional race? There is probably something to this, especially after Dodgers Insider tweeted this out shortly after acquiring the Southern California native:

The again, it could also have been the fact that Madson recently returned from the Washington Nationals’ 10-day disabled list (on August 27) for what was diagnosed as “lumbar nerve root irritation in his back,” a condition that the veteran right-hander has reportedly been dealing with for quite some time.

But regardless of the reason for his brief and unsuccessful Dodgers debut on Sunday afternoon, and with the tight division race looming large, it’s probably safe to say that Ryan Madson absolutely must have better results in his next relief appearance, or there will be a lot of very angry Dodger fans out there; not to mention that he would be at risk of being left off of any potential Dodgers postseason roster(s).

As the two brothers in the popular Kona Brewing Company commercial say: “One life, right? Don’t blow it.”