LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers know it’s unconventional.
It can look, well, a bit ridiculous at times.
A team with a payroll exceeding $300 million, that dropped $1.4 billion on free agents last winter, shouldn’t have to rely on bullpen games to keep its season alive.
Yet here they are, for the third time this postseason, employing a bullpen game Sunday night in Game 6 against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium.
Ryan Brasier, who last pitched even two innings in a game was on Aug. 23, 2023, is again expected to start.
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They will then turn to six, maybe seven, more relievers to get the job done.
It worked beautifully in the NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, with an 8-0 victory in Game 4.
It blew up spectacularly in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, losing 7-3.
They now are looking for those bullpen arms to propel them to their fourth World Series in eight years.
The Dodgers, up 3 games to 2 in this best-of-seven series, are confident it will work. None of their high-leverage relievers have pitched since Game 4 in contrast to the Mets, who used their best two relievers – Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz – to secure the final 13 outs in their 12-6 victory in Game 5.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation,’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “and that’s how I’ll look at it. And with the pen, there’s only so much you can push each guy. So it’s kind of just depending on where they’re at as far as kind of hitter, pitch count, all that stuff. …
“I do feel that as our focus is still on Game 6, whatever it takes, we’re very well equipped to prevent runs for a potential two games.’
The Mets badly need their ace, Sean Manaea, to pitch deep into the game to force a Game 7, knowing they can’t go mano a mano with the Dodgers’ vaunted bullpen.
“I’m just giving it everything I’ve got,’ Manaea said. “I hopefully can go deep into the game. It’s always the goal for me personally. I’m not trying to change anything or do anything more. Whatever I can give, it’s what I can do.’
If there’s a Game 7, the Dodgers will go the traditional approach with starter Walker Buehler, who pitched four shutout innings in Game 3 – with his effort celebrated as if he were Bob Gibson or Jack Morris.
There still has not been a single complete game this postseason. Only Corbin Burnes of the Baltimore Orioles pitched into the eighth inning. Seven pitchers completed seven innings. And 12 times starters have lasted two or fewer innings.
It has become such a bizarro bullpen world that relievers have pitched more innings this postseason (312) than starters (303 ⅓).
“That’s where we are now in the game with analytics and stuff,’ Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso said. “The game’s just different. It’s a totally different outlook. Now, everyone wants to throw their best stuff all of the time. There’s no taking a pitch off. This is high octane, full baseball, max effort every pitch.’
If it didn’t work, teams wouldn’t keep doing it. The Dodgers bullpen recorded 28 outs in Games 3 and 4 of the NLCS, and didn’t give up a single run.
“I’ve always felt that a bullpen game gives you a really good chance to prevent runs,’ Roberts said.
It can backfire, of course. There have been 15 blown saves this postseason, the most outside the 2020 Covid year in baseball history, according to the New York Post. Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, the best reliever in baseball, gave up just five earned runs and two homers in 74 ⅓ innings during the regular season with a 0.64 ERA. In this postseason, he had given up eight earned runs and three homers in seven innings entering Saturday.
The Mets are pushing their bullpen to the max, praying the heavy workload doesn’t result in a meltdown. Stanek pitched a career-high 2 ⅓ innings and Diaz tossed two innings in Game 5 with Mets manager Carlos Mendoza not trusting anyone else to protect a five-run lead.
“I think the one thing we’ve seen this year is that guys will get tired,’ Mendoza said. “So, the importance of starting pitching, it’s there. You need guys that give you length. It’s hard to ask guys every day for 15, 16 outs. That’s hard. And that’s the importance of starting pitching.
“A lot of different teams are built a lot of different ways. We’ve got some starters. But then there’s teams out there that they’ve got some elite bullpen arms.’
Roberts has judiciously managed his bullpen, using his high-leverage arms at only critical times, and letting other relievers have the burden of eating innings when the team is down.
“We have potentially two games here,’ Roberts said, “and I feel that to prevent runs, we’re in a very good spot. I don’t think we’ve exposed our high-leverage guys at all. And that’s part of the learning curve for me over history.’
If the Dodgers win Game 6, they can start getting lined up for the World Series, which would begin Friday night at Dodger Stadium. They’ll have starters Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler all rested. Their bullpen will have four complete days off. They’ll have All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, who’s in a 1-for-15 slump without an extra-base hit this postseason, getting four more days of treatment on his sprained ankle.
At some point, the bullpen may actually decide a game in late innings? Three games have been decided by eight or more runs, four games have been decided by at least six runs, and no team has had less than a four-run lead entering the ninth.
The only time a postseason series has had six games decided by four or more runs was the 1965 World Series between the Dodgers and Minnesota Twins, according to the Athletic, with an average margin of victory of seven runs.
“That’s one of the things I’ve learned about postseason baseball,’ Dodgers reliever Brent Honeywell said. “When you have the lead, you don’t want to give it up. You’ll do everything you can to keep it, and you find out in a hurry who’s ready to step up in the postseason.’
This is why Roberts won’t hesitate to use his high-leverage relievers early in the game, with part-time closer Michael Kopech coming into postseason games anywhere from the third inning to the eighth so far.
“I think across baseball managers are being more aggressive once they catch a lead and going with those [high-leverage] guys,’ Roberts said. “It’s just hard to get back into a game or tack on. When you’re seeing other arms, I think it just kind of exposes other teams’ pens, and I think we’ve done a really good job.’
Certainly, if Roberts had his druthers, he’d have a Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and/or Gavin Stone in the mix with Yamamoto, Flaherty and Buehler.
“I’d love to have John Smoltz or Greg Maddux go seven shutout [innings],’ Roberts said, “or throw a one-hitter or two-hitter in a World Series game. That would be great.’
Instead, it’s mix and match, strategize and pray you’ve got the right matchups.
It’s the nature of the postseason beast in 2024.
“It’s just where the game’s at nowadays,’’ Alonso said. “What are you going to do?’’
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