LOS ANGELES — An already taxed Dodgers bullpen was asked to handle nine more innings on Tuesday night, adding to its workload as the busiest in the major leagues this season.
Officially, the innings put in by left-hander Jack Dreyer will count in their total for the team’s starters since the rookie “opened” the game on the mound. But the physical toll will be felt just the same for a pitcher who has delivered his first 13 major-league outings already this season.
Add that to the busy postseason the Dodgers’ relievers had in October and the level of concern is rising for what has proven to be a dependable group of pitchers.
“When you start talking about World Series stuff, or going into the World Series, guys did some really heavy lifting,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “There’s always concerns when you’re getting to a point where guys are in a fatigued state six, seven months into a season. Then you ask them to increase workloads in different ways. What are the ramifications of that?”
The Dodgers are finding out earlier than expected this season. The bullpen headed into Tuesday’s game with 126 innings and then added even more.
There are some new faces this season who did not go through the rigors of a full three rounds of the playoffs last fall such as right-handers Kirby Yates and Luis Garcia, as well as left-hander Tanner Scott. Add Dreyer to that group as well.
Left-handers Alex Vesia and Anthony Banda are back. Right-hander Blake Treinen has also returned, but he already is dealing with a forearm strain that has him on the injured list. Right-hander Michael Kopech has yet to pitch this season with his own forearm injury after dealing with discomfort in the playoffs.
There is also the unpredictability of a bullpen. Getting the same performance out of a relief pitcher year after year is hardly a sure thing.
Yates had a 1.17 ERA in 61 outings for the Texas Rangers last season with 33 saves. He went into Tuesday’s play with an MLB-high 16 appearances and had a 2.63 ERA. He had a 1.04 ERA after 16 outings last season, and that 16th appearance didn’t come until May 15.
“There are some days where I go out there and I feel it and I’m like ‘Alright, it’s unhittable,’” Yates said about his split-finger pitch that starts as a strike and then dives to the bottom or below the strike zone. “Earlier in the year, it was like that, and it felt really good and I could throw it whenever I wanted and have the confidence to do that.”
The good news is that Yates will get plenty of opportunities to find that A-plus splitter again. The bad news is that rest might be few and far between for all of the relievers as injuries to starters like Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell have transferred a bigger workload on the relievers.
“We thought our starters would be a position of strength for us from a workload standpoint, and unfortunately we lead all of baseball in innings for relievers,” Prior said. “Sometimes that’s a good thing, but this early in the year, it’s probably not a good thing.”
PITCH IMPERFECT
Right-hander Tony Gonsolin is set to pitch for the Dodgers for the first time since 2023 when he takes the mound Wednesday afternoon against the Miami Marlins. A return for other starters on the injured list is less certain.
Left-hander Clayton Kershaw had his rehab start at Oklahoma City washed out by inclement weather on Tuesday. The team is working on rescheduling his next rehab outing.
The return of Snell and Glasnow remains a work in progress. Both veteran starters are out with shoulder inflammation.
“It’s something as an organization, we’ve been trying to wrap our head around, because it’s not a good quality of life for anybody,” Prior said about a rash of injuries to Dodgers starters in recent years. “It’s not (god) for the players who suffer the injuries. Doesn’t help us operate at an optimal level as a ball club.”
HELPING HAND
In order to reinforce the bullpen, the Dodgers recalled right-hander Matt Sauer and optioned right-hander Noah Davis to Oklahoma City. Davis was recalled Monday when Glasnow went on the IL but did not pitch in Monday’s game.
Sauer has made just one appearance for the Dodgers this season when he gave up one run in 1⅔ innings against the Washington Nationals on April 7.
UP NEXT
Marlins (RHP Cal Quantrill 2-2, 7.83 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Tony Gonsolin, 2025 debut), Wednesday, 12:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM
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