May 29th, 2019 at 3:30 pm 
by Ron Cervenka You don’t have to be a baseball analytics expert or Sabermetrics guru to realize that the Dodgers starting rotation is good – very good. You also do not have to be one of these to realize that the Dodgers collective bullpen is… well… not good – very not good.
The Dodgers current five starters – Messrs. Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Walker Buehler, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda – are a combined 24-5 with a combined ERA of 2.99. They have given up a combined 34 home runs (plus four by Ross Stripling, two by Julio Urias and one by Caleb Ferguson as spot starters).
The Dodgers current nine relievers – Messrs. Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Ferguson, Dylan Floro, Yimi Garcia, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Stripling, and Urias – are a combined 10-11 with a combined ERA of 4.40. They have collectively blown eight saves in 25 save opportunities: Kelly 3 of 3, Floro 2 of 2, Jansen 2 of 17, and Garcia 1 of 1. The Dodgers bullpen has allowed a combined 21 home runs, none more devastating than the grand slam given up by Alexander (who Dodgers manager Dave Roberts repeatedly insists is a ‘ground ball specialist’) that turned a very winnable 2-2 tie into an ugly 7-3 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
“Obviously the two walks to lead off [the seventh inning by Garcia] and then a ball on the play that we didn’t make obviously adds another base runner,” Roberts explained. “And we couldn’t get a ground ball right there with Alexander and [Mets right fielder Michael] Conforto put a good swing on the ball that was elevated.
“I think that that’s what he (Alexander) is, that’s what he does best,” Roberts continued. “But I think that the last four-out-of-five outings, something like that, the ball’s been up and he’s had trouble getting it down, and a guy – a sinkerballer – when you’re elevating, the ball tends to flatten out and now you’re exposing yourself to potential slug and that’s what happened tonight.”
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
As for yet another epic fail by his bullpen on Tuesday night, Roberts dropped the age-old company line on the gathered media:
“You’ve got to turn the page … and reset and focus on winning a baseball game.”
Play Ball!
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Whatever is wrong, they got to get it straighten out quickly otherwise our dreams will be nightmares.
Front office knows they need to upgrade the pen for sure at the trade deadline. Until then, the short-term fix ought to be: Urias in the 7th, Baez in the 8th, and Jansen holding down the 9th as always. They’re the only late-inning/high-leverage arms Roberts has to work with right now. If Ferguson manages to work out his command issues down at AAA after coming back a bit prematurely from the IL due to that oblique strain, he could factor in that mix as well. Still not sold on Kelly until he finally does it when it matters. Wasn’t a fan of that signing when it was announced because I thought that money could’ve been better spent elsewhere, but it is what it is.
Didn’t we read a couple of weeks ago that Alexander was having trouble keeping the ball down because of a bad hip and would need time on the IL?