Los Angeles Dodgers: Three areas to improve to win World Series in 2019
By Jason Reed
2. The bullpen
The bullpen was the darling of the NLCS and is what ultimately kept the Dodgers in games as they faced the stellar bullpen that the Brewers had to offer.
In the World Series, that bullpen was no longer the darling and let up runs in key spots. You cannot completely blame the bullpen, as the offense gave it absolutely no help. But Dave Roberts and the coaching staff was accustomed to this ‘pen coming in and locking things down. That isn’t what happened.
You could make the case that without Ryan Madson the Los Angeles Dodgers could have won this series in five games. Madson allowed all of his inherited runners to score, all coming in the most pivotal part of each game.
The front office has consistently relied on these reclamation projects to fill out the bullpen and it has led to a relatively successful bullpen for how much the team has to spend.
Dylan Floro, Caleb Ferguson and Madson are perfect examples of relievers that most teams would not regard as successful arms. Add in starters Kenta Maeda, Alex Wood and Julio Urias and the bullpen was definitely unique.
However, these reclamation projects always meet their match. Joe Blanton met his match in the 2016 NLCS, Brandon Morrow in the 2017 World Series and Madson in the 2018 World Series.
It is time to stop solely relying on these feel-good stories and instead add at least one dominant arm that can come in before the ninth inning to stop a rally. There is a slew of options available this winter, the Dodgers must capitalize.