Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Shohei Ohtani ain’t the only guy who can set records around here. The Dodger bullpen set a mark of their own in 2024. A record FOURTEEN pitches got a save this season. And no Miguel Rojas or Kike Hernandez was not one of them. Let’s take a look at all the guys who contributed to this record, and which of them might be called on to perform the same feat in October.
1. Evan Phillips (18 saves, 54.2 IP, 3.62 ERA)
Phillips started the season as the de facto closer, but stumbled a bit mid-season, which is probably why so many other guys got opportunities late in ballgames. The fact that Phillips recorded his last save of 2024 on August 31 kind of tells you all you need to know about the way his year went.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS: Set-up guy
2. Daniel Hudson (10 saves, 63 IP, 3.00 ERA)
Huddy was kind of Phillips 2.0 this year. He had his moments and was the Dodgers best reliever for a stretch, but the wear and tear of the season caught up to the 37-year-old Hudson. After being lights out early in the summer, Hudson finished the season with an ERA over 5.00 in the second half. Not what you want approaching the postseason.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS: Set-up guy maybe, middle relief more likely
3. Michael Kopech (6 saves, 24 IP, 1.17 ERA with Dodgers)
What can I say. Dude’s a stud. Whatever wasn’t working for him with the White Sox got fixed in a hurry here in LA. Mark Prior had him alter his pitch mix slightly and he’s been dominant ever since. Kopech pitched 24 innings for the Dodgers down the stretch and posted ridiculous numbers: 1.17 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 29 K. He’s the shutdown closer we’ve been looking for since Kenley lost his mojo.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS: If Kopech isn’t closing games, the entire Dodger front office should be run out of town on a rail.
4. Alex Vesia (5 saves, 66.1 IP, 1.76 ERA)
Vesia has been one of the best surprises in the pen in 2024. After a sub-par 2023 campaign, Vesia rediscoverd himself this year, posting the best numbers of his career. A 1.76 ERA over 67 appearances, sometimes throwing multiple innings, shows how reliable he’s been this year.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS: Vesia will be the first lefty out of the bullpen this postseason. He doesn’t have super numbers against lefthanded hitters, but he’s the best lefty we’ve got out there.
5. Anthony Banda (2 saves, 49.2 IP, 3.08 ERA)
Anthony Banda was a nice story this year. After bouncing around the league, he finally seemed to figure it out in LA (not the first guy that has happened to). For most of the year, he was a reliable lefty that manager Dave Roberts could turn to when Alex Vesia wasn’t available, and he was pretty good at missing bats, as his 50 strikeouts in 49.2 innings attest to. Now, if he can only get a little better at missing paper towel dispensers.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS: He’s going to make the roster. How much he gets used will all depend on how tight the ballgames are. We shall see.
6-10. Guys with one save who are still on the roster
- Landon Knack (69.1 IP, 3.65 ERA)
- Blake Treinen (46.2 IP, 1.93 ERA)
- Justin Wrobleski (36.1 IP, 5.70 ERA)
- Brent Honeywell (34.1 IP, 2.62 ERA)
- Edgardo Henriquez (3.1 IP, 2.70 ERA)
It’s surprising that good as he’s been, Blake Treinen only has one save this year. It’s even more surprising to think that he’s blown four other save opportunities. Which means he’s right where he should be: the filfthiest damn set-up man in baseball.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS: Treinen will see lots of high-leverage innings in October. Henriquez is a wild card and may surprise some people. Knack of course is now part of the rotation. I don’t think Honeywell and Wrobleski see the postseason roster.
11-14. Guys with one save who are no longer on the roster
- Ryan Yarbrough (67.1 IP, 3.74 ERA)
- Yohan Ramirez (29.1 IP, 5.54 ERA)
- JP Feyereisen (11 IP, 8.18 ERA)
- Dinelson Lamet (4.1 IP, 2.08 ERA)
I was a little surprised that the Dodgers parted ways with Yarbrough mid-season in that he was such a good innings-eater. I thought we were going to get a little bit more out of ex-Tampa Bay Ray Feyereisen, but his outings were pretty bad. Ramirez was a mid-season adventure when we were in a pitching crunch. Lamet, we hardly knew ya.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS: Enjoy the postseason from the comfort of your living room. I hope you have a good TV!
Conclusion
Some interesting names that are NOT on the list: Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol, and Ryan Brasier. I would have thought these guys would have gotten at least one save during the year, but injury and erratic pitching kept them all off the board. Is it a good thing to have this many guys save games in one year? Well, it’s interesting, but I’m not sure it means much other than the team didn’t have a reliable lockdown guy until Kopech moseyed into town. That long tall Texan is nails, and thanks to Miguel Vargas, he’s now ours. Sorry about being on the crappiest team in history, Miguel, but somebody had to do it. The Dodgers have a World Series to win!
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