MVN - Most Valuable Network

Bulls in the Pen

Sorry about the gap in posts. I’ve been battling a bad cold among other things and just have been being lazy. Ok, where was I? And the bullpen looks something like this.

Jonathan Broxton - Broxton is the Dodgers closer in waiting and he could be ready to step into the role should Saito revert to old and mediocre. Broxton could be Gagne’s Mini Me (figuratively speaking).

2006 Stats

IP  HR ERA  WHIP SO BB BA
76  7  2.59 1.23 97 33 .216 

Takashi Saito - Saito’s resigning gives the Dodgers a *cough* proven closer that everyone knows you have to have to win. Saito is a mystery. Is he man or beast.? His motion fools hitters and he throws in the low 90’s, both improvements from when he pitched in Japan. Can he keep it up? Given that he is 37 a short flight into the mountain is possible but I think in any case he should still be serviceable.

2006 Stats

IP  HR ERA  WHIP SO  BB BA
8  3  2.07 0.91 107 23 .177

Yhency Brazoban - Ghame Over??? Well, it’s not known exactly when Brazoban will be back or what shape he will be in when he does. Hopefully, he can pick up where he left up. At least the Dodgers aren’t counting on him.

Joe Beimel - Beimel was another bullpen find for the Dodgers last year. Then he cut his hand in a bar, lied about doing so and missed the playoffs. I expected the Dodgers to non-tender him but it seems like he has done penance in the eye of the management. The eye of the clubhouse might be a different matter.

2006 Stats

IP  HR ERA  WHIP SO BB BA
70  7  2.92 1.30 30 21 .262

Hong-Chih Kuo - Kuo didn’t do well after he came up and he was shipped back to be a starter to get more work in. His work ended up being so good that when he came back he was pretty darn unhittable. He and Broxton might from an elite left/right combo

2006 Stats

IP  HR ERA  WHIP SO  BB BA
59  3  4.22 1.46 71  33 .244

Elmer Dessens - Dessens returned to the Dodgers are part of the cost of getting rid of Odalis Perez. He did ok but he might have problems finding work in this a bullpen this deep. At least he is free. His stats are much better as a reliever.

Three Year Averages

IP  HR ERA  WHIP SO BB BA
82  9  4.25 1.35 54 24 .276

Brett Tomko - Tomko pretty much stunk as a starter.  I had high hopes for his move to the pen as he still throws around 90.  He started out well, but as the season wrapped up Tomko progressively slid down the scale.  I think that he could still turn out to be alright.

Three Year Averages

IP  HR ERA  WHIP SO BB BA
165 18 4.36 1.35 99 50 .269
Mark Hendrickson - Hendrickson was acquired to give the Dodgers a good, dependable, lefty starter for the second half of the season.  He only accomplished the lefty part before going the way of Tomko.  As much as I hate to say this, Hendrickson did pitch well in relief although in a small sample size and usually in blow outs.  He signed a one-year deal today for 2.95 million.

Three Year Averages
IP  HR ERA  WHIP SO BB BA
175 20 4.99 1.46 91 52 .289
Other possible bullpen contenders included Tim Hamulack, DJ Houlton, and Greg Miller.

Synopsis - The Dodgers have a very deep bullpen full of talent as well as pieces.  They have three pitchers that could fill in as starters if needed and enjoy pieces that they could trade some of the lesser ones without out much of a hit.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.