October bullpen countdown
The Dodgers have two big decisions to make come October. Who will start game three and game four, and who will make up the October bullpen.
The bullpen is so crowded that when I did my breakdown of the Walker Buehler chances I forgot to mention Josh Fields who reminded me tonight how foolish that was.
The bullpen has been taxed over the last two nights, but they came through and helped the Dodgers to two victories. Morrow and Avilan further cemented their locked in status for the October bullpen. Watson had one good outing and one bad outing. Cingrani was outstanding tonight along with Josh Fields. Ross Stripling did the job last night but Pedro Baez showed why he still makes most Dodger fans nervous. By all accounts, Pedro Baez has been outstanding this year, but every time we say that he seems to have a game like last night. Brock Stewart did himself no favors with his poor showing tonight. Josh Ravin has to be a huge longshot but after giving up the double that did in the ERA of Brock Stewart he was fantastic.
I think we have four locks with Jansen, Morrow, Avilan, and Watson. Maybe Cingrani is a lock. Fields might be. You’d think Baez would be. Will all the rotation pieces end up on the outside looking in?
Stay tuned, this is the one battle that will make Sept interesting.
| Pitcher | Position | October | 8/21/2017 | 8/22/2017 |
| Kenley Jansen | Closer | Locked | ||
| Brandon Morrow | RHSetup | Locked | +++ | |
| Luis Avilan | LHSetup | Locked | +++ | +++ |
| Tony Watson | LHSetup | Locked | – | +++ |
| Tony Cingrani | LHSetup | Maybe | +++ | |
| Josh Fields | RHSetup | Maybe | +++ | +++ |
| Pedro Baez | RHSetup | Maybe | — | |
| Ross Stripling | RHSetup | Maybe | +++ | |
| Brock Stewart | RHSetup | Maybe | — | |
| Ryu | LHSetup | Maybe | ||
| McCarthy | RHSetup | Maybe | ||
| Kenta | RHSetup | Maybe | ||
| Josh Ravin | RHSetup | Maybe | ++ | |
| Walker Buehler | RHSetup | Maybe |
- Posted in: 2017 Baseball ♦ Uncategorized
- Tagged: Brandon McCarthy, Brandon Morrow, Brock Stewart, Hyun-jin Ryu, Josh Fields, Josh Ravin, Kenta Maeda, Luis Avilan, Pedro Baez, Ross Stripling, Tony Cingrani, Tony Watson, Walker Buehler
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 
Long way to go.
Pitchers are so fragile.
Gonna have some guys who work every game each series.
Could alternate a couple of RP spots per series, like a line change in hockey.
Matchups particular to opposing players are also a thing …
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I suppose some of this will sort itself out, with injuries and hot/cold streaks the rest of the way. Having a hard time seeing how Ryu, Maeda and McCarthy will figure in. Seems like they would want to keep guys in their established roles for the playoffs. Otherwise, maybe stop it with the 10day DL roulette and put some of these guys in the pen in September?
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