The 2015 Bullpen - Kenley Jansen and the Box of Pain™

[Villain]

More-or-less locks for big league time this season:

• Kenley Jansen - Get well soon. Please.
• Joel Peralta - This guy is a smart, crafty old guy. He's as much a set-up man / occasional closer as he is a mentor for the younger pitchers. It's no secret that Friedman was hoping he would exist to make a "veteran" impact.
• Paco Rodriguez (L) - We all love this guy, right? I always have. Here's hoping he can return to being a mainstay. Mattingly keeps saying that he's not a LOOGY, but then keeps using him as a LOOGY.
• JP Howell (L) - His wife is hot. His arm is cold. Another crafty veteran. He's a lefty. He will have a long time to be allowed to be terrible before he his cut, but he's also only 31 so he could turn it around.
• Yimi Garcia - The Spring Training darling of the year. He's been mowing them away so far, looking forward to seeing his arm snap off when he makes his 60th appearance in early June. Candidate for being 2015's Chris Withrow.
• Chris Hatcher - He throws gas. This is only his second season as a reliever. I like him so far.
• Juan Nicasio - He's one of the experimental Starters-Turned-Relievers that the Front Office has shown an affinity for. His early returns in Colorado were positive. We know he's a shitty starter. Let's hope it works out.
• Adam Liberatore (L) - I think he's the first-lefty-up when Paco or JP get hurt/sent down/whatever.
• Pedro Baez - I think he'll be the first one to get optioned to the minors while not being injured. He's just not very experienced. A converted third baseman. Right now he's the guy in the pen who makes me the most nervous.
• Brandon League - He was surprisingly useful last year. He seems to love being on the Dodgers. He gets a shitton of ground balls and he'll have a better infield defense backing him up this year. We'll see.
• Ryan Webb - He just got traded from Baltimore to be Brandon League Jr. He gets a lot of groundballs, but not as many as League. He hasn't reported to the team yet so I don't really know what the situation is there.
• Josh Ravin - Everyone loves this guy because he throws 100mph.

Organizational depth:

• Daniel Couloumbe (L) - He was a surprise call-up last year. He did alright in the short time he was up. I see him has the fourth lefty, one below Liberatore.
• Sergio Santos - Not on the 40-man. We all thought he did a great job in Spring, former closer looking to return to glory. Right now it looks like he'll only be up if someone else gets hurt.
• David Huff (L) - Not on the 40-man. I think he's got a better shot at making the pen than Santos, simply because he's a lefty and Paco seems to have an unfairly short leash.
• Chris Reed (L) - He finally got moved to the bullpen to start the minor league season. Here's hoping that he shines in that role and that he forces his way up to the big club.
• Chin-Hui Tsao - Remember this guy? He's back, he had an awesome spring. It'd be fun to see him back at Dodger Stadium. He's kind of a long shot due to Chinese gambling controversy.
• David Aardsma - Not on the 40-man. He's old, had a decent spring, and coaches like Don Mattingly like guys that are old.

Players that will be added via a trade:

• Aroldys Chapman (L) - Yeah, right.

 

[Villain]

Update on Ryan Webb: He has been outrighted to AAA and removed from the 40-man roster. He previously declined an assignment from Baltimore, so my guess is that he only agreed to this one for a short stint. Speculation is that he could get called up to the big club as soon as this week.

Basically, the Dodgers need a 40-man spot for Scott Baker so that he can make a one-and-done start for Ryu tomorrow. Then Baker or somebody (Darwin Barney comes to mind) gets DFA'd and Webb hops back up into the bigs to be in the bullpen.

Alternatively, Brandon League could get moved to the 60-day DL, no one gets DFA'd, and then one of Paco/Baez/Hatcher/Yimi gets optioned to the minors.

All of that is guessing, but everyone seems to agree that Scott Baker will start tomorrow.

(For the record, Joe Wieland, Mike Bolsinger, and Zach Lee are not available to come up for this spot start unless someone gets put on the DL. They have to wait at least 10 days in the minors before being recalled.)

 

[lasportzphan]

Great stuff... I am not ready to anoint the nickname "Box of Pain" to the Dodgers' bullpen.

Last year this 'pen was a "Box of Shit" and this year the trend continues. But as you point out above, perhaps there are more options at our disposal to correct for poor performance.

 

[LASports96]

Webb was released.

 

[lasportzphan]

Webb was released.

Draft picks are expensive, I suppose....

 

[Villain]

Great stuff... I am not ready to anoint the nickname "Box of Pain" to the Dodgers' bullpen.

I didn't give that name. @Calling_the_Game (who I linked) is where that name came from. Been using that name for years.

Last year this 'pen was a "Box of Shit" and this year the trend continues. But as you point out above, perhaps there are more options at our disposal to correct for poor performance.

Well, actually, this bullpen has been outstanding with the exception of 2 guys. Both of those guys can improve. It's been only one week.

Webb was released.

Yeah, crazy how that basically makes that trade into the Dodgers paying $2.7MM for that draft pick. It's good to be rich!

 

[Villain]

Since Ryan Webb is now with the Indians, the Dodgers don't need to DFA anyone for David Huff to make the start tomorrow. However, they do need to clear a spot on the 25-man. I know for sure that Baez, Paco, and Yimi all have options, but I don't think they'll want to send any of those guys down.

I'm trying to remember whether Barney still has roster option left, and I think he does. If I'm right, then that means that the Dodgers could just send him to AAA and bring up Huff until Ryu is ready.

 

[LASports96]

Since Ryan Webb is now with the Indians, the Dodgers don't need to DFA anyone for David Huff to make the start tomorrow. However, they do need to clear a spot on the 25-man. I know for sure that Baez, Paco, and Yimi all have options, but I don't think they'll want to send any of those guys down.

I'm trying to remember whether Barney still has roster option left, and I think he does. If I'm right, then that means that the Dodgers could just send him to AAA and bring up Huff until Ryu is ready.

Barney does indeed have options, he might go out.

 

[lasportzphan]

Barney does indeed have options, he might go out.

And with Guerrero showing signs of life, he may just be the odd man out.

 

[Villain]

That's exactly what happened. Barney is out, David Huff is in.

Huff is an interesting addition because he's not a starter. He's a veteran reliever equipped with being a long-man. So, basically that makes it possible for him to go 3-4 innings tonight and the new and "improved" bullpen can show its stuff. He'll probably be unavailable for until Saturday or so, but then he gets to stick around as a third lefty reliever. That flexibility to stick around in a relief role is probably what prompted the decision to add him and not Scott Baker.

Though I do have to say, if Bolisinger, Lee, Wieland, and Frias were all allowed to get called up, I think it would've been one of them and not Huff.

Dodgers won't need another 5th starter until April 25, so hopefully Huff is a useful bullpen piece during that time. I'd be shocked if that game isn't starter by an actual starter - regardless of Ryu's health.

 

[Villain]

4/14 Farhan Zaidi (Audio)

Farhan basically says that they got Webb to agree to get outrighted on the condition that they'd let him take off if a better option for him appeared. Another team wanted him so the Dodgers held up their end of the deal and let him go.

 

[LASports96]

4/14 Farhan Zaidi (Audio)

Farhan basically says that they got Webb to agree to get outrighted on the condition that they'd let him take off if a better option for him appeared. Another team wanted him so the Dodgers held up their end of the deal and let him go.

wow that's really fucking honorable of them.

 

[LASports96]

After tonight, I hope Huff isn't sticking around even in the bullpen.

 

[Villain]

You're not alone. I'd rather seem him get DFA'd and the Dodgers bring up Liberatore. If Ryu isn't ready on April 25, there's at least 4 better options than David Huff to make that start.

 

[lasportzphan]

You're not alone. I'd rather seem him get DFA'd and the Dodgers bring up Liberatore. If Ryu isn't ready on April 25, there's at least 4 better options than David Huff to make that start.

Agreed. Surprised they went to Huff. Throwing beach balls.

 

[Villain]

Dodgers claim Ryan Dennick off waivers from Reds, DFA David Huff - True Blue LA

Well it looks like we're getting our wish. They haven't announced who is going to get Huff's spot on the 25-man, yet.

 

[Villain]

Also, there's this:

 

[Villain]

Frias it is.

 

[LASports96]

Frias was fairly impressive last year outside of that start in Hell (Coors Field).

 

[Villain]

Bullpen was awesome tonight.