Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2025

The Los Angeles Dodgers need one more win to go to the NLCS. It should be editable, but the Dodger bullpen is the problem.

Roki Sasaki can’t throw every day. Remember, he is a converted starting pitcher. Dave Roberts is overusing him and risking an injury.

This is understandable. If Sasaki goes down, the Dodgers probably won’t go to the World Series. The Dodgers tried not to rely on one reliever to close games, but nothing has worked.

Before the last week of the regular 2025 season, nobody who followed the Dodgers casually thought Sasaki would be on the postseason roster.

The past offseason, the Dodgers tried to build a super bullpen, but it didn’t work.

The Dodgers already had Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Kopech, Alex Vesia, and Anthony Banda.

In May, Phillips had to undergo Tommy John surgery and will be out until the 2026 season at the earliest. Since the late 2021 season, Phillips has been one of the most trusted right-handed relievers in Dave Roberts’ bullpen.

Since 202, Graterol had been another right-handed flamethrower who could retire the opposition regularly. Though he didn’t get many strikeouts, Roberts trusted Graterol in high-pressured situations, and Graterol usually delivered. In 2024, Graterol didn’t pitch much because he had right shoulder problems. After the Dodgers won the World Series, Graterol underwent shoulder surgery and planned to rejoin the active roster after the All-Star break, but his rehabilitation didn’t go as planned. He hasn’t hurled competitively in the 2025 season.

The Dodgers depended on Kopech for this season, but he couldn’t answer the bell. He has been on the IL for most of the 2025 season with a right shoulder impingement and knee injury/surgery. When Kopech pitched, he couldn’t find the strike zone.

Vesia has had a good year. He has performed satisfactorily in the postseason. He is tired from 68 appearances. Since Vesia came off the IL after having an oblique strain, he hasn’t performed as well as he did before the injury. Nevertheless, Vesia is still on Roberts’ trust tree.

Banda has had a great season, particularly in September, but he hasn’t appeared in the postseason. Banda isn’t flashy with a high-velocity fastball. Banda’s best pitch is a slider. This year, Roberts has used Banda during the middle innings. During the postseason, the starters have gone through six innings at least. I’m sure that Roberts will use Banda during the postseason sometime.

During his tenure with the Dodgers, Andrew Friedman has been magnificent in acquiring players that the Dodgers needed to win. Obtaining relievers is the hardest thing for a baseball executive.

This past offseason and at this season’s trading deadline, Friedman failed to obtain relievers who have performed well in the Dodger uniform. I am not blaming Friedman since I agreed with him on his acquisitions for the bullpen.

If Friedman hadn’t re-signed Blake Treinen, the media would have killed Friedman in the newspapers and on the Internet. Treinen was one of the most important Dodger relievers in their path to the World Championship. At 37, Treinen missed four months with a right forearm strain. Since he came back from a serious arm injury, Treinen has struggled with his command. Roberts blames a lack of confidence on Treinen’s part, but I think Treinen has an elbow injury. I wouldn’t be surprised if Treinen misses the 2026 season with an elbow surgery.

After Tanner Scott had a brilliant 2024 season, everyone in the baseball world wanted to sign the superstar left-handed closer. Even signing Scott, Friedman helped his team because his team didn’t have to face Scott.

However, Scott has been a bust. He has great stuff, but he doesn’t know how to use it properly. In one regular season game, he used 19 straight sliders. He doesn’t have good command of his pitches. Sometimes he throws too many strikes, and then he walks the house. Roberts has lost confidence in Scott and hasn’t used him during the postseason.

Friedman understands relievers can get injured and become ineffective. Therefore, he signed right-handed Kirby Yates. At 38, Yates has struggled with his hamstring, so his pitches stayed up in the strike zone, saying, “hit me.”  Since the middle of September, Yates has been on the IL, and Dodger fans everywhere hope he stays there.

Knowing that the Dodgers needed a good right-handed reliever, Friedman traded a young left-handed-hitting outfielder, James Outman, to the Minnesota Twins for a veteran right-handed reliever, Brock Stewart. Stewart was great for two outings. Then, he became ineffective. The Dodgers put him on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. Stewart tried to come back but couldn’t. he underwent shoulder cleanup surgery. He won’t be available until after the All-Star break in 2026.

If the Dodgers are going to win the World Series, they must lean on Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw, and Roki Sasaki to be relievers.