Predicting how the Dodgers pitching rotation will look in 2018
By Jason Reed
The bullpen:
- Ross Stripling
- Tony Cingrani
- Yimi Garcia
- Pedro Baez
- Luis Avilan
- Brandon Morrow
- Brad Hand
- Kenley Jansen
There are some notable names in this bullpen and there are some exclusions that you may be wondering about. First, let’s address the elephant in the room in Brad Hand.
The Los Angeles Dodgers need one more left-handed reliever in their bullpen to really sum things up. Last season, the team brought in Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson at the trade deadline to accomplish this. With Watson heading into free agency and the Dodgers free agency focus on Brandon Morrow, Watson may be as good as gone.
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Insert Hand, who is a better option than Watson to begin with. Hand is the San Diego Padres most tradable asset and this may be the offseason in which the team parts ways with him. With the Padres still in the running for Ohtani, the Dodgers could trade some of their international signing money alongside a mid-level prospect for Hand’s services.
Outside of that, the rest of the bullpen is pretty cut and dry. Josh Fields was left off of the list as was young flamethrower Walker Buehler. Buehler will undoubtedly go to AAA Oklahoma City to hone his craft and Fields simply cannot make it in such a talented bullpen.
I was tempted to throw prospect Trevor Oaks into the mix as a long relief, but again, there are too many good options that he gets left out. Still, the Dodgers have the comfort of having such a dominant staff while having three or four guys in the minors that can step up and produce at a high level.
Next: How the Dodgers can get Ohtani and Stanton
Say what you want about the offense, pitching has been the bread and butter for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although hitting is the focus right now with Giancarlo Stanton, the pitching staff will be great yet again.