The Los Angeles Dodgers need a flame throwing reliever

The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen was great in the NLCS but not so great in the World Series. As a result, the obvious needs of this bullpen were identified.

Oh, how the tides can turn from the National League Championship Series to the World Series. In the NLCS, the Los Angeles Dodgers got the best of the Milwaukee Brewers in large part due to the Dodgers bullpen outperforming the highly-touted Brewers bullpen.

However, in the World Series, the Dodgers bullpen (aside from the 18 inning affair in Game 3) was not so great. Most of the blame can be placed on Ryan Madson, who allowed every inherited runner to score and squandered a lead in Game 1 and 2 while allowing the Red Sox to get back into a 4-0 game in Game 4.

Madson was electric in the NLCS. It is not surprising that the success was long-standing, Madson wasn’t great in the regular season and it was a massive surprise when he was announced on the NLDS roster.

More from LA Sports Hub

I understand going to him in Game 1, he was great in the NLCS. However, Dave Roberts and the front office should have learned after his performance in Game 2 that Madson no longer had it. They didn’t.

This is more of a reflection on the Dodgers bullpen than it is on Madson. The Los Angeles Dodgers lack a true wipeout arm in the bullpen prior to Kenley Jansen, who was not himself in 2018.

Madson showed glimpses of being that guy and the next best bet was Pedro Baez, who completely flipped the script and looked elite in the postseason. However, due to his past, it seemed like Roberts and the front office had Baez on an extremely short leash considering the results he was putting out.

Baez’ success is a direct correlation to what makes relieves so good; he throws very hard. Teams are seeking out hard-throwing arms to fill out the bullpen and if you look at all the great bullpens in the league, they all have more than one flame throwing option in the bullpen.

The Dodgers simply do not have that and that shows exactly what the team needs. Baez led all Dodger relievers in fastball velocity last season, averaging 96 miles per hour on his fastball. Of relievers with 20 innings pitched, only Daniel Hudson and JT Chargois had fastball velocity over 95 MPH. Neither were on the postseason roster.

There is nothing more evident than how velocity affects success than who the Dodgers came up against in the postseason. The Milwaukee Brewers boasted six relievers that averaged over 95 MPH, one of which wasn’t Josh Hader, who averaged 94.5 MPH on his fastball in the regular season.

The Red Sox heavily relied on four true relievers in the postseason to be successful. Those four arms included Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel, all of which averaged over 95 MPH during the regular season.

Nathan Eovaldi, who had a spectacular showing in Game 3 and even in a loss saved the Red Sox from using too many arms, averaged 97.5 MPH on his fastball in the regular season.

When the going gets tough in the postseason, the thing that seems to work is pure over-powering stuff that can get a team through an inning, not meticulously planning five different relievers to get six total outs.

Next. Surprising players the Dodgers could trade. dark

The Los Angeles Dodgers need to add at least one, if not two, hard-throwing relievers to get over that postseason hump.

All velocities courtesy of FanGraphs.com.

Home/Los Angeles Dodgers