Dodgers Test ‘You Can’t Have Too Much Pitching’ as Ohtani Tunes Up..
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The last time we saw the Los Angeles Dodgers, their pitching was in tatters. Their starting staff was injured and could only muster short stints. A low-budget bullpen was stretched to the limit.
Now, after an offseason shopping spree coupled with the pending return of some veteran starters from injury, the Dodgers should no longer have that problem.
“It’s just great now that we have such depth,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in an interview Saturday prior to a Cactus League game at Camelback Ranch. “Hopefully, those bullpen games should be a thing of the past.”
Last October, the Dodgers’ overall 4.50 ERA was ninth among the 12 playoff teams. Their starters were even worse at a 5.25 ERA—11th of the 12 teams—averaging less than four innings a start. A total of 60 innings in 16 games.
Still, they won the World Series in five games over the New York Yankees, needing two bullpen games at the end to seal the victory. The Dodgers had the worst ERA for a winning World Series team since the 2004 Boston Red Sox.
“Obviously last year we saw what could happen,” said Clayton Kershaw, who will eventually return from foot and knee surgery in pursuit of his 3,000th strikeout—he’s 32 away. “We were still throwing bullpen games in the postseason. That’s not the recipe.”
As far as postseason starters were concerned, only Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler were healthy. And the latter two left via free agency, Flaherty back to Detroit and Buehler to Boston.
Now, though, the Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches. They signed Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki as free agents. The have Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Kershaw returning from injury. They’ll have Yamamoto in his second big league season, with hopes for better health. And Shohei Ohtani himself is on the back fields, throwing bullpens and working to return.
The Dodgers also added free agent relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to tighten up the back of the bullpen.
“It’s amazing. You have to give a lot of credit to our ownership for going after it,” said Kershaw, who won’t be back until June at the earliest. “We have so many talented arms. This year we might have overdone it with too many starters, but that’s a good thing.”
To Kershaw’s point, the Dodgers spared no expense. They are spending $199 million of their record $392.5 million Major League Baseball payroll (by luxury tax rules) on pitching. Kershaw, in his 18th and possibly last season, is making $7.5 million after signing a contract earlier this month.
