Caleb Ferguson is pitching like 2016 Andrew Miller
A bullpen ebbs and flows all season, one moment a Daniel Hudson is handling the class five rapids with aplomb, the next moment he can’t even navigate a simple class one. When one stumbles another takes his place so it is rare that a bullpen has everyone firing on all cylinders and the Dodgers are no exception. The key to bullpen success is having multiple cylinders firing in the right sequence even if one or two are messing with the timing. Right now the Dodger bullpen is getting great work from Alexander, Ferguson, Chargois, and Floro.
It was no surprise to me that Scott Alexander was the man to take the rudder when Hudson started to stumble but it has been a pleasant surprise to see Caleb Ferguson become the multi-inning ace of the bullpen.
Over the last 30 days this is what the Dodger bullpen has done:
| Name | G | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | ERA | FIP | xFIP |
| Scott Alexander | 14 | 13.1 | 10.13 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.79 | 2.18 |
| Kenley Jansen | 12 | 13.1 | 12.83 | 2.7 | 2.03 | 3.16 | 2.69 |
| Caleb Ferguson | 6 | 14 | 11.57 | 0.64 | 1.29 | 1.95 | 1.84 |
| J.T. Chargois | 7 | 6.1 | 11.37 | 0 | 1.42 | 2.69 | 1.41 |
| Dylan Floro | 6 | 7.1 | 9.82 | 2.45 | 3.68 | 3.57 | 3.14 |
| Erik Goeddel | 6 | 6.2 | 13.5 | 4.05 | 5.4 | 3.91 | 2.95 |
| Pedro Baez | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.66 | 5.12 |
| Zac Rosscup | 4 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 4.16 | 7.44 |
| Daniel Hudson | 11 | 8.2 | 9.35 | 2.08 | 6.23 | 6.28 | 3.48 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 54 | 81 | 60.16 | 31.01 |
Over the last 30 days, Caleb Ferguson has pitched the most innings, has the best ERA/FIP/xFIP and BB/9 in a bullpen that has Kenley Jansen.
The Dodgers are looking to upgrade that bullpen and you can understand why. It would not be prudent to count on Ferguson, Chargois, and Flora to continue to produce at the levels they have pitched like for the past thirty days.
The Dodgers just got Pedro Baez back. Josh Fields and Tony Cingrani are still on the disabled list with no clear timetable for their return. Tom Koehler is now out for the season.
I still think when Ryu is ready in a few weeks, that the Dodgers will have three options by late August for the bullpen, that being Stripling, Buehler, and Urias. A fourth option may even be Dennis Santana who started throwing again and might be able to contribute sometime in Sept.
In my mind, Kershaw, Hill, Kenta, and Wood are the rotation i. I expect Ryu to enter that rotation when he is ready if he finishes his rehab healthy and able to pitch as well as he was doing before he hit the disabled list. I keep hearing that Ross Stripling is not headed for the bullpen but Ross Stripling is eventually headed for the bullpen unless the five starters I just talked about suffer more injuries.
I may go get another relief option but I wouldn’t be trading a Yordan Alvarez for it.
- Posted in: 2018 Dodgers ♦ Uncategorized
- Tagged: Caleb Ferguson, Daniel Hudson, Dylan Floro, J.T. Chargois
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 
We will see how Stripling fares in his next start.
I would skip this next start based on his last outing, if the object were to keep Stripling in a starting role.
Those HR he surrendered in the AS Game started a trend.
I was not in favor of sending Stripling out for more than one inning in this game.
When he running out of gas, the balls start to fly.
Moving him to the pen makes sense.
Stripling from the right side and Ferguson on the left side.
IP All Levels
36 2012
127 2013
0 2014
71 2015
109 2016
77 2017
100 2018
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