The Los Angeles Dodgers will win the NL Pennant — here’s why

3. The Los Angeles Dodgers actually have a great bullpen

If you ask 100 Dodgers fans what the weakest area of the roster is I guarantee that the majority of answers is the Dodgers bullpen. That is fair, the Dodgers are so stacked everywhere else that the bullpen usually takes the brunt of the blame.

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If the offense only scores three runs but the bullpen allows two, it is the bullpen’s fault that the Dodgers lost. It is a natural cycle with every team.

However, the Dodgers’ pen is much better than it gets credit for. Not only is the bullpen better than most people think but it is arguably the best in the National League and one of the best in the MLB.

While it does not have multiple dynamic arms like the New York Yankees or Cleveland Indians, the Dodgers have created a quirky pen that gets the job done.

According to FanGraphs, the Dodgers bullpen is ninth in WAR in the second half of the season and is sixth among playoff contenders. The bullpen has a 3.57 ERA in the second half which is the sixth-best in the MLB and the second-best in the National League, trailing the San Diego Padres.

Throwing starts Alex Wood and Kenta Maeda in the bullpen gives the Dodgers the option to go deep into games and specialists such as Scott Alexander and Dylan Floro have been good in their respective roles.

Kenley Jansen, although he has some hiccups, is still the best closer in the National League and Ross Stripling could be this year’s Brandon Morrow.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the starting pitching to go six or seven innings deep, which is more than enough for this bullpen, who can realistically give the Dodgers five to six quality innings on a nightly basis if need be.