Tagged: Pedro Baez
Dodgers face their biggest pitching decision of season
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Cary Osborne
There were roughly 10 minutes between the end of the Dodgers’ 8-3 loss to the Nationals in Game 3 of the National League Division Series and Dave Roberts’ arrival in the interview room at Dodger Stadium.
The second question he was asked was about his Game 4 starter. He didn’t name one.
Rightfully so.
Whomever he goes with — the ace Clayton Kershaw on three days’ rest, or the rookie Julio Urías — will have a domino effect on the entire pitching staff.
Roberts went for early knockout with Jansen
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Cary Osborne
With all the second-guessing and debates already in this postseason about back-end bullpen usage (re: Zach Britton, Jeurys Familia and Andrew Miller), Dave Roberts didn’t shy away from risk.
In the eighth inning, the Dodger manager moved aggressively, asking Kenley Jansen to get five outs and protect the Dodgers’ 4-3 lead — only the third time in his career Jansen had been asked to get five outs and the first time in his 11 postseason appearances. And it worked.
Dodger bullpen runs deep heading into NLDS
Kenley Jansen and Joe Blanton (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Dodgers at Nationals, 2:38 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrián González, 1B
Josh Reddick, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andrew Toles, LF
Clayton Kershaw, P
Trea Turner, CF
Bryce Harper, RF
Jayson Werth, LF
Daniel Murphy, 2B
Anthony Rendon, 3B
Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
Danny Espinosa, SS
Pedro Severino, C
Max Scherzer P
By Jon Weisman
Any Dodger game that starts with Clayton Kershaw on the mound ideally ends with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.
But with seven relievers who have performed strongly down the stretch, the Dodgers can be as aggressive with their playoff bullpen as they have been in years.
Of the six relievers the Dodgers would use to preserve a lead, none had a September ERA higher than 2.00, and only Joe Blanton had a September WHIP above 1.03.
Kenley Jansen, of course, is the primary candidate for the ninth inning, and if necessary could be drawn into the eighth inning. This year, Jansen entered six games in the eighth and saved five of them.
In the set-up roles, the Dodgers can mix and match righties Joe Blanton, Pedro Báez and Josh Fields with lefties Grant Dayton and Luis Avilán, with Ross Stripling held back for extra innings.
That means even if Kershaw only goes six innings, the Dodgers could go batter-to-batter against a Washington starting lineup that goes R-L-R-L-R at the top.
Rare start off for Adrian González
Howie Kendrick, LF
Kiké Hernandez, CF
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carlos Ruiz, C
Rob Segedin, 1B
Charlie Culberson, 2B
Brock Stewart, P
By Jon Weisman
Adrian González gets a rare break from the starting lineup tonight for the series finale against Arizona.
González had started 33 consecutive games and has played in 84 in a row (starting 80) entering tonight.
In those 84 games, he has an .815 OPS with 12 home runs and 21 doubles. In the past 33, his numbers are even stronger: .927 OPS with eight homers and 10 doubles.
González leads the Major Leagues in games since 2006 with 1,723, which is 31 more than his closest competitor, Robinson Cano. The only games he has missed this year took place May 17-19 against the Angels and June 1 against the Cubs.
Dodgers recall Casey Fien, option Pedro Baez
Kiké Hernandez, LF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Rob Segedin, 1B
Carlos Ruiz, C
Josh Reddick, RF
Charlie Culberson, SS
Andrew Toles, CF
Rich Hill, P
By Jon Weisman
Casey Fien has been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City by the Dodgers, who have optioned Pedro Baez to Double-A Tulsa.
Baez has been on the Dodger active roster all season — he’s seventh on the team in innings pitched and second behind Joe Blanton among relievers.
He had a superb July, pitching 14 2/3 shutout innings with 14 strikeouts, though he allowed three inherited runs to score July 30. However, though he has maintained his strikeout rate in August, Baez has allowed 23 baserunners in 12 innings with a 7.50 ERA this month.
Fien has a 3.80 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 23 2/3 innings as a Dodger, including 1 2/3 shutout innings this month. The Dodgers expect to add at least one other right-hander later this week with the anticipated return of Louis Coleman from the disabled list.
Pedro Baez’s practically perfect July
Howie Kendrick, LF
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Adrián González, 1B
Chris Taylor, 2B
Joc Pederson, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Brandon McCarthy, P
By Jon Weisman
It might be easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than to convince a Dodger fan that Pedro Baez is pitching well.
Making the case that Baez has been extraordinary? Oh, dear — heaven forfend.
But the facts speak for themselves. In July, Baez has faced 39 batters. Three have reached base, on a double and two walks. More than 30 percent of the 39 have struck out.
Baez has allowed a .077 on-base percentage and .054 slugging percentage this month. He has stranded all five runners he has inherited. His ERA is 0.00.
Dodgers hang on after Norris’ 6 1/3 shutout innings
![Image-1[105]](https://mlblogsdodgers.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/image-1105.jpg)
By Jon Weisman
Bud Norris began his Dodger career July 1 by throwing six innings of two-hit shutout ball. That seemed like a nice thing to do, so why not a sequel?
Kenta Maeda could provide bullpen a save
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrián González, 1B
Howie Kendrick, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andrew Toles, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Kenta Maeda, P
By Cary Osborne
On July 23, the Dodgers could use a July 10 Kenta Maeda.
Maeda went seven innings on July 10 against the San Diego Padres — one of just two times this month when a Dodger starter has completed seven innings (the other being Scott Kazmir’s seven innings on Tuesday).
Today’s callup of Ross Stripling gives a gassed bullpen a much needed long man. Since the All-Star Break, the Dodgers are third in baseball in relief innings — 31 2/3. The last two games, the Dodgers made 15 trips to the bullpen — using seven relievers in Washington on Thursday and eight in last night’s 16-inning 4-3 loss in St. Louis, including starter Bud Norris for 1 1/3 innings.
Here’s the recent timesheet punched by Dodger relievers:
How the revitalized bullpen keyed Dodgers’ surge
By Jon Weisman
In the Dodgers’ final inning before the All-Star Break, the best closer in the National League, Kenley Jansen, entered the game to protect a one-run lead against the fourth-place team in the National League West.
At that moment, the Dodger bullpen was several weeks into an extended resurgence that was forcing fans and media alike to unlearn everything it thought it knew about the team’s relievers. It progressed in stages, as if reversing the five stages of grief.
- Hooray — they actually held a lead for once.
- All right, I’ve stopped throwing things every time a reliever comes in.
- I know this won’t last, but thank you for at least being adequate.
- Hmm. Some of these guys are actually pretty good.
- I don’t want to jinx this. But … wow.
Dodger bullpen failures have been branded into the collective memory of recent years, the scar tissue making it nearly impossible for most to feel the moments when the relievers were doing well — which, of course, was more often than the distraught and cynical could concede.
But by the time Jansen took the mound Sunday, the bullpen’s growing success was no longer possible to ignore.
Dodger relievers lead the Major Leagues with a 2.83 ERA. They lead the Major Leagues with a 1.02 WHIP.
In fact, as Dodger broadcaster Joe Davis pointed out, the Dodger bullpen’s opponents batting average of .192 is currently the lowest in modern baseball history. The team’s WHIP is the lowest in NL history.
That’s extraordinary. And that’s not wishcasting. That’s something that has been happening. The Dodger bullpen has become the opposite of an albatross. It’s a primary reason that, despite the “I Love Lucy” chocolate conveyor belt of injuries, that Los Angeles (51-40) is on a 91-win pace and once again a team to be reckoned with.
In terms of inherited runners stranded, the Dodgers were seventh among MLB teams at 72 percent — in the upper echelon but with room for improvement. The good news — the great news — is that the improvement is already underway.
Three homers? Yes, many for Yasmani
By Jon Weisman
There was no grand slam, but three slams that were grand for Yasmani Grandal.
Grandal became the third Dodger catcher ever to hit three homers in a game, joining Roy Campanella (1950) and Mike Piazza (1996), in the Dodgers’ 10-6 victory tonight over San Diego.
Grandal added a bunt single and a line-drive single, finishing the night with five hits and six RBI, becoming the third catcher in MLB history to have at least five hits in a game with three homers. The previous two: Walker Cooper of the Reds in 1940 and Victor Martinez of the Indians in 2004.
For good measure, Grandal also had a great throw to nail Wil Myers attempting to steal second base.
All this despite taking a foul ball to the jaw midway through the game.
Dodger Insider 
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