It’s no secret, the Dodgers bullpen sucks. In fact, their combined 5.08 ERA is currently the second worst in all of baseball behind only the Oakland A’s horrific 5.54 ERA.

“We have not pitched well. There’s really no sugar-coating it,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior recently (and accurately) told reporters.

The lone exception is 28 year old Dodgers right-hander Evan Phillips, who currently has the bullpen’s – and the Dodgers – best ERA at 2.28.

And then there’s that Clayton Kershaw guy – the Dodgers 35 year old left-hander, who is a three-time Cy Young Award winner, five-time ERA title holder, and nine-time All-Star, with his current 8-4 record and Kershaw-like 2.95 ERA.

On Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles open a brief two-game interleague ‘Freeway Series’ with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (which isn’t even in LA County) at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, with the aforementioned Clayton Kershaw as the Dodgers scheduled starting pitcher opposite 23 year old Angels left-hander Reid Detmers.

As such, it goes without saying (but I will anyway) that every Dodgers fan on the planet is hoping that Kershaw goes deep enough into the game so that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts can take the ball from his future Hall of Famer and hand it directly to Phillips, who has become the Dodgers unofficial closer, thereby skipping all of the far less effective ‘middlemen.’

Just how bad has the Dodgers pitching become? During a recent interview with The Athletic‘s Fabian Ardaya (subscription required), Dodgers President of Baseball Operation Andrew Friedman told Ardaya:

“In spring training, I did not expect that in July we would aggressively be looking for pitching. With the injuries and where we are, I think that focus has shifted. There’s no question that is more likely than it was in March.”

Hope for the best, Dodgers fans.

Play Ball!

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