Building a 25-man roster – The Bullpen

The second article in my “Building a 25-man roster” series will address at the construction of the Dodgers opening day bullpen. Here I will make my final preseason prediction as to whom the members will be and I will also talk about the people I am leaving off of the list and for what reason.

In my previous prediction article, I said the bullpen would consist of: Kenley Jansen, Sergio Romo, Pedro Baez, Ross Stripling, Brandon McCarthy, Grant Dayton, Luis Avilan, Chris Hatcher, and finally Josh Ravin. This article will change that in a large way.

First, though, the obvious. Kenley Jansen is the Kershaw of the Dodgers bullpen. Jansen, who was last year’s NL reliever of the year, will look to continue his success that he enjoyed last season as the staff closer. Jansen was just signed to a six-year deal, which will hopefully keep the 29-year-old, Curacao native, in his spot for a long time. Jansen has had a good spring showing the same stuff that he boasted towards the end of last year.

Jansen was flat out overpowering against the three batters he faced during a minor league tune-up game on the backfields of Camelback Ranch on Monday, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts looked on. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Next, lets examine the eighth inning role. In my last article, I had, and still have, Sergio Romo as the setup man. I think that Romo is the best fit for that spot besides maybe Grant Dayton. The only hiccup in that is Romo is experiencing a minor injury, which has kept him sidelined for quite a while already. But, to the delight of Dodger fans, Romo just pitched a perfect inning against the Rangers on Sunday the 26th and appeared to feel good doing it. So, with what looks like a healthy Sergio Romo, the Dodgers will open the season with him taking the work in the eighth.

Now lefties. The Dodgers are entering the 2017 season with a huge surplus in starting pitching. Because of that surplus, many big league level starters will either be pushed to a bullpen role or perhaps even a minor league spot should they have options left. In my last article, I controversially picked Ryu to win the fifth starter spot over Alex Wood. Because of this, I am pushing Wood into a bullpen role where he will work alongside Ross Stripling as a long man. The other lefty who requires little explanation is Grant Dayton. Dayton projects to be one of the best relievers in the league this year so it would be insane if he didn’t break camp as a member of the pen. Finally, the third lefty I am putting in the pen will be Luis Avilan. Avilan is out of options and could be used as a trade piece later in the season. But for now, Avilan will be in the Dodger pen.

Now comes the spot that will be heavily used this year in a system that uses the bullpen exhaustively, the long man. With Alex Wood already in the pen, I am going to add one more because he was so good at it last year. Ross Stripling will be that person. Stripling pitched his way to a 2.22 ERA last year out of the pen. In addition to last year’s success, Stripling has looked amazing this spring in a similar role. Recently, I spoke with Ross and he shared that if he spends the year in the pen his goal would be to,” simply to get outs when the ball is put in my hand. Whether it’s nine outs in long relief or just one hitter, I want to put myself in the best position to get guys out in any role.” So, with his flexibility and good attitude, Ross is the long man.

Ross Stripling played before a pretty special audience during a bullpen session earlier this spring. His 16 strikeouts are second to only Clayton Kershaw’s team-high 28 this spring.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Next, I’m going to make two easy cuts from my previous bullpen. I am going to remove Pedro Baez and Josh Ravin due to injuries. Baez is out with a lingering thumb injury he suffered in the first few days of camp and he will likely remain in Arizona on the new 10-day DL. The other injury belongs to Josh Ravin, who aggravated a groin injury and will ”…remain out for a few weeks,” per Dave Roberts.

For their replacements, I am going to keep Hatcher in the pen but not in his original spot. I think that Chris Hatcher has been unimpressive over the course of spring training and quite honestly, he does not look like he deserves a roster spot on such a talented team. I think that Hatcher will fill in for Baez until he is ready and then will be dealt with accordingly. On such a cheap contract I would not be surprised in the slightest to see him designated. In terms of a Josh Ravin replacement, there is none. Due to the addition of Alex Wood and my unwillingness to have an eight-man bullpen I will not be replacing Ravin on my roster. I think that seven is the way to go even though Brandon Morrow has had an amazing spring training.

In Summary, my bullpen picks are Kenley Jansen, Sergio Romo, Alex Wood, Grant Dayton, Luis Avilan, Ross Stripling, and Chris Hatcher. Stay tuned for an article on the outfield, as it is next in line on the roster prediction series.

 

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7 Responses to “Building a 25-man roster – The Bullpen”

  1. Ron Cervenka says:

    As much as I am a huge Ross Stripling fan, I do not see him making it over Brandon Morrow. It is abundantly clear that Dave Roberts really likes Brandon (from their San Diego days) but there is no way that you would know this without seeing it first hand.

    Now this isn’t to say that Ross might not make the OD roster, this is just my opinion based on what I’ve seen (and heard) in camp.

  2. oldbrooklynfan says:

    I hope you’re right about Alex Wood being in the bullpen, since the Dodgers already have three left handed starters in Kershaw, Hill and Ryu in the starting rotation. Another nice article, Jacob.

  3. Bluenose Dodger says:

    I too am a huge Ross Stripling fan having followed him through the minors for since the 2012 season. I am not being all that objective perhaps, but if I was selecting right now, it would be Morrow and Stripling. Take the two best at the moment.

  4. BDN says:

    My suspicion is Hatcher and Morrow both make the pen. Wood will be a long man, and Stripling will hopefully be in the AAA rotation. Hatcher and Morrow are early season lottery tickets. If they pay off, great! If they implode, the depth will be put to use. Injuries and ineffectiveness are basically guaranteed over 162 games. Baez will be back, as well as Stripling and Liberatore. The balance of righty and lefty options is encouraging. I wish they would have at least considered going the Chris Sale route with Urias though. A year or two out of the pen would have helped him develop against a level of competition adequate to challenge him. Game to game dynamics aside, I don’t see why a scheduled routine for relievers would be out of the question. “You’re going to pitch 2 innings every 3rd game” type of thing. It’s just strange to me how starters can hit 180-200 innings, and people freak out if a reliever gets close to half that. Mike Marshall won the Cy Young in 1974 pitching 208 innings entirely OUT OF THE PEN!

  5. Bluenose Dodger says:

    There you have it. Brandon Morrow and Julio Urias will not make the opening day roster according to Ken Gurnick. Huh!

  6. Bluenose Dodger says:

    Looks like Jacob has a good crystal ball.

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