Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Back in 2019, I took in an Angels game down in Anaheim (don’t judge), and the game was pretty tightly contested. Long about the ninth inning, the Angels opened up their bullpen door, out stepped their closer, one Hansel Robles. They had a theme song and a big walk-out video for the guy. It was quite the production.
And in fact, Robles probably deserved the star treatment. Indeed, in 2019 he was having quite a year. He made 72 appearances that season, saving 23 games, with a 2.48 ERA, and a tidy WHIP of 1.02. Those are borderline All-Star numbers.
Well, the Dodgers are going to see if they can find that guy again. After getting his DFA papers from the Boston Red Sox, the 31-year-old Dominican reliever has signed with the Dodgers, who seem to enjoy signing these “lost causes” just to see if they can find jus the right tweak to get the player back on track. Certainly, it seems to have worked with Jake Lamb, who’s been a solid player, both at OKC and up with the big club.
With Robles, it’ll be a bigger lift. After a rough 2020 with the Angels, Robles hooked on with the Minnesota Twins during 2021, and was shipped off to the Red Sox at the deadline when the Twins were dead in the water. And to be fair, Robles had an okay end of the season with the Bosox, posting a 3.60 ERA in 27 games. In the beginning of the season, he was actually pretty good as well. He was 7 of 8 in close opportunities, and posted a 2.65 ERA in the first two months of the season.
But since June, it’s been pretty much a disaster for the hard-throwing righty. He went on the IL for back spasm in late May and since his return has struggled to regain his form. His ERA for the last fifteen appearances is 8.78, and he’s been rocked pretty consistently all summer. He was DFA’d by the Sox on July 6th and then released outright on the 9th. And now, a week later, he is officially a member of the LA Dodger family.
Maybe he just needs to rehab the injury a bit more. Maybe the Dodgers staff and figure out a way to milk a little more out of the guy (he’s not that old, after all). We’ll see. Very low expectations on this one. Maybe he’ll surprise us.
Or maybe not.
