The Dodgers barely needed their bullpen during last year’s postseason run.
As they pursue a third consecutive World Series title, they would like the same formula to work again.
Los Angeles is expected to lean on a star-studded rotation, even with Shohei Ohtani unavailable as a pitcher. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are all expected to carry significant responsibility.
Ideally, that group will cover most of the postseason innings.
Reproducing last October’s starting-pitching dominance, however, will be difficult. The Dodgers’ four-man rotation of Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell and Glasnow accounted for 113 of the club’s 165 postseason innings, including relief appearances by Glasnow and Yamamoto. Collectively, they finished with a 2.55 ERA.
That was a historic level of production.
Given those numbers, some regression in both workload and effectiveness would be understandable.
That makes dependable bullpen options especially valuable this year. The relief corps looked like a potential weakness earlier in the season, when injuries and inconsistent performances mounted. Tuesday night, though, offered a reminder that the group could become a strength during the Dodgers’ latest October championship push.
In a XX-XX victory over the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers entered the rivalry-series opener at Dodger Stadium without the pitching advantage. While San Diego sent ace Michael King to the mound, Los Angeles was forced into a makeshift bullpen game.
Instead, eight Dodgers relievers combined to keep the previously red-hot Padres in check. Several pitchers who had appeared to be postseason question marks continued to build encouraging momentum.
Brock Stewart set the tone, opening the game with a scoreless inning as an important right-handed option in the bullpen. Justin Wrobleski followed by escaping trouble in the second while undergoing a late-season transition to relief for the second consecutive year. Blake Treinen, who may still have to fight for a postseason roster spot amid the team’s depth, then delivered one of his better recent outings, allowing only a two-out walk in a scoreless third.
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The biggest highlights came in the fourth and fifth innings, when Roki Sasaki and Edwin Díaz each added a crucial scoreless frame.
It was Sasaki’s first appearance since returning from the injured list and shifting back to the bullpen late in the season. He could reprise his role as the Dodgers’ playoff closer, and Tuesday’s outing strengthened that possibility. Sasaki worked around two singles, struck out two batters and reached 99-100 mph with his fastball despite missing the previous month because of a blister.
Díaz recorded his third straight scoreless outing since returning from the IL, and this was his most impressive performance yet in his effort to secure a playoff roster spot. He retired the top of San Diego’s order in succession, striking out two, and has now retired nine of the 11 batters he has faced since returning to the active roster.
By then, the Dodgers had created plenty of separation. They scored four times with two outs in the second inning against King, who issued consecutive bases-loaded walks to Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts before Freddie Freeman delivered a two-run single through the infield. Los Angeles added another Freeman RBI single in the fourth, a solo home run by Edman in the sixth and a solo blast from Will Smith in the seventh.
Against one of the lineup’s more challenging tests in recent weeks, the Dodgers’ offense responded emphatically.
The most encouraging signs, however, came from the bullpen. Kyle Hurt closed out the game with two scoreless innings, followed by clean appearances from Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer in the eighth and ninth.
Tanner Scott, who is likely competing with Sasaki for the postseason closer role, and Evan Phillips—two of the bullpen’s most trusted arms at the moment—were not needed.
The Dodgers will hope in October that their relievers are not asked to shoulder quite so much work again.
If that situation arises, though, they appear far better equipped to handle it than they were a year ago.
Just one more way the two-time defending champions, who have now won 15 of 18 games, are hitting their stride entering the playoffs.
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