Familiar Faces will try to get the ball to the closers this year

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers bullpen was something of a marvel last season. During the year, they were able to go on streaks of near-perfection in 2021. Their 3.16 ERA last year was second only to the Giants in all of Major League Baseball. In 2022, with the very notable exceptions of Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, and Corey Knebel, most of the pitcher the Dodgers leaned on last season are back in the fold, and some will need to step up big time to replace the three quality arms that left the team.

Let’s begin with the most thankless of jobs in pitching — the middle innings guys, those pitchers who need to get the team from the fifth inning to the eight. The ones who are called on to mop up a lopsided win. And the ones who need to eat up some innings when higher leverage guys go down with injury. There are quite a few of these pitchers in the Dodgers stable this year, so there won’t be room on the Opening Day roster for all of them, but surely this core of hurlers will be leaned on heavily throughout the long season. Let’s look at them in alphabetical order.

Phil Bickford (2021: 50 IP, 2.50 ERA)

Bickford was something of a revelation in 2021. A castoff after being a high draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, Bickford started out in a mop-up role in the early going. However, by mid-season, he had worked himself up the depth chart and was seeing himself in bigger and bigger situations as the year progressed. Rocking the ‘stache and the Guitar Center hair, Bickford was quite the presence on the mound last year.

“I knew nothing about him,” manager Dave Roberts said last year of the Southern California native. “He has been one of the biggest joys of the season.

“He’s been a Dodger fan, he’s very grateful, he’s a hard worker, he’s got that edge. He’s a sweetheart of a guy, but when he takes the baseball, he’s a savage. Guys love him. He’s one of those guys that I don’t know where we would be without him.”

Unfortunately, Bickford dealt with some soreness in the offseason, and according to Roberts, he’ll be unlikely to be ready at the start of the season. Whenever he gets to the big club, he will be a welcome addition.

Justin Bruihl (2021: 18.2 IP, 2.89 ERA)

Justin Bruihl was another reliever who was nowhere to be found on Opening Day, but ended up playing an increasingly important role for the team in the latter part of the season. The rookie started last year with Great Lakes but by August, he’d worked his way up through Tulsa to Oklahoma City. Then on August 8, he got the call up to the big squad in Los Angeles. He got into a game that night, and was pretty solid the rest of the way for the team.

He threw one clunker in August and another bad inning in September, but other than that, he was a steady lefty out of the pen for the team. And in three playoff appearances, Bruihl didn’t give up a run. With the absence of Jansen, Kelly, and Knebel, Bruihl will certainly be called on to play a bigger role in 2022. He hasn’t surrendered a run yet in Cactus League play this year, so it looks like he might be ready for just that.

For more about Justin Bruihl, check out his visit with the Bleed Los team a few weeks ago on the Bleed Los Podcast.

Garrett Cleavinger (2021: 18 IP 3.00 ERA)

This Kansas native had an up an down season for the Blue Crew last year. His best month was July, in which he made nine appearance and posted a 2.70 ERA. But then, just as it seemed to be gelling for Cleavinger, he got injured with a right oblique strain early in August and had to be shut down for the rest of the season. So it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from Cleavinger this season. His Spring has been okay (4.50 ERA over only 4 innings pitched so far). Although he might make the squad out of camp, he’d be one on the bubble when the rosters get reduced from 28 to 26 on May 1. We’ll see what happens with him.

Victor Gonzalez (2021: 35.1 IP, 3.57 ERA)

Julio Urias‘s favorite roommate came into last season with high expectations. He was such a vital part of the 2020 run to the World Series championship, it seemed like he would be the logical choice to step up and take on an even bigger role in 2021. But it was not too be. González, a guy who prided himself on control, seemed to lose the strike zone for good portions of the season.

After a decent start to the season last year, he seemed to have just lost it in July. The stats for the month were ugly: 8.53 ERA, 2.53 WHIP. Plus, his couple of stints on the IL didn’t help matters any, either. By the end of the year, González’s place on the depth chart was very low indeed, and he didn’t even make the postseason roster, finishing the year in OKC.

However, he’s come to camp with the good stuff this spring, and really looks like a new man on the mound. He’s lost a lot of weight and is the ball is exploding out of his hand.

In two Cactus League games, González has struck out four of the six batters he’s faced over two scoreless innings. If González returns to form, he’ll give the Dodgers another key piece out of the bullpen.

“Right now, he’s healthy, the delivery is being repeated, which now allows for the characteristics of his pitches to play the way they should,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “And as a result, he’s having success. He’s just got to continue doing what he’s doing. It looks good.”

Let’s hope so. A healthy and effective Victor González would be very welcome news indeed.

Others…

In addition to these hurlers, there are reinforcements on the way, though most not for a while. Danny Duffy, Jimmy Nelson, and Caleb Ferguson are all still rehabbing injuries this spring, so they probably won’t see any action until late spring or early summer at best, and some (like Duffy and Nelson) might be out until well after the All-Star break. Still, it’s nice to know that these guys are on the roster. It is almost like we will have a mess of fresh and rested bullpen talent coming on to pitch just when the staff starts to wear down a bit. This will be something to watch as the season progresses.

TOMORROW: MORE RELIEF OPTIONS FOR THE DODGERS