Remember when the Dodgers went to the market and spent a lot of money to sign Edwin Díaz, baseball’s number one available relief pitcher simply because they could? Well, that hasn’t worked out the way everybody hoped. Intentionally overlooking the possibility — small, although very real — that something clicks and Díaz can perform up to his potential in the playoffs, the reigning back-to-back champs will have to make do without what they bargained for last offseason.
As damaging as that can be, this
bullpen in its current construction bears no resemblance to the unit that was dragged over the finish line a season ago; this one is perfectly capable of not just getting by but fulfilling a crucial role in this quest for a three-peat.
Although other bullpens carry better stats, the Dodgers lead the National League in one particular category, one that will definitely come into play in October: strikeout rate, only trailing the Guardians in the entire sport with a 25.5-percent strikeout rate.
Any bullpen conversation with the Dodgers starts with Tanner Scott’s bounce-back, a pitcher we shall pretend arrived a year later than his contract would suggest. The former Padre has essentially filled the role set aside for Díaz before the season, as the standout closer acquired on the open market. Prone to inopportune slip-ups, hence the 1-5 record, Scott shouldn’t see his total production diminished to the point of skepticism around his ability to come up big in the playoffs. The air of invincibility may be lacking in comparison with other elite closers, such as Mason Miller and Josh Hader. Given where we were a year ago, it’s difficult not to embrace the optimism of this development. And we even have a backup plan for the closer role; more on that later.
Below Scott, the Dodgers rely on Edgardo Henríquez, who has firmly established himself as a key setup option, matching the wow factor of his stuff with the production on the mound. Henríquez was already a serviceable alternative coming up down the stretch last season. With adjustments to his arsenal and approach, the righty has taken his strikeout rate to the expected range for a pitcher of his qualities, near 30 percent.
The link in trust between last year’s bullpen and this season’s unit might be in the middle of a last dance in a Dodgers uniform. Alex Vesia — a free agent to be — might very well be priced out of staying with the Dodgers, who have other priorities, but let’s not dwell on that now and simply enjoy this special character who has been here since the start of this dynasty. Carrying on an extremely reliable career, becoming much more than the simple specialist he was first deployed as, Vesia has been equally dominant against righties and lefties—with a slugging percentage allowed below .300 facing either. Lastly, in the group of reliable regular-season options, you have maybe the heir apparent to Vesia in Jack Dreyer—a reliever developed in-house with similar fastball characteristics to Vesia, who has over 130 innings in the bigs since the start of last season with a sub-3.00 ERA. Equally dominant against righties and lefties, Dreyer is already a key cog in this bullpen, only in his second season as a big leaguer.
Beyond that trio, you have a balanced mixture of talented arms with a limited sample in the regular season, often due to injuries, and then perhaps this team’s secret weapon in the playoffs: talented starters turned relievers and all the flexibility they bring to the table. It’s difficult to imagine the Dodgers reaching their ultimate goal last season if not for the efforts of Roki Sasaki out of the bullpen, quickly becoming LA’s most trusted reliever back then. Working his way back from a nagging blister, Sasaki has taken steps forward on his way to establishing himself as a productive major league starter, but in the short term his postseason role once again lies in the work out of the bullpen. Considering his level of success as a closer last year, the Dodgers could reasonably hand him that role, but it should be noted that Scott has struggled when pitching in non-save situations this season, with an opponent’s OPS north of .700. Depending on how much weight the Dodgers place on that, they may just opt to keep him as the closer and have Sasaki in a firemen-type role.
While Sasaki is the high-profile name, there are other Dodgers starters who can provide a key impact working in relief, chief among them Justin Wrobleski, whose recent home run woes aside, has had a magnificent breakout campaign. On any other team, he’d be looked at as nothing but a starter, but the Dodgers can afford to rely on his skill set in a multi-inning role, similar to what we saw a year ago. A pitcher with more raw talent than Wrobleski but without the 2026 production to back that up, Emmet Sheehan looked great in his return to the bigs this month and will battle for a postseason spot down the stretch. If a pitcher as skilled as Sheehan ends up your go-to option to eat up innings in low-leverage spots, that’s something to be satisfied with.
All of this talent could reasonably be enough to get by in a scrap for the title, certainly much better than what Dave Roberts had at his disposal a year ago. However, we still haven’t even gotten to the wild cards of production—the ones that could make the difference between a pretty good bullpen showing and an outstanding one come the playoffs. It starts with perhaps the best success story of development in the Dodgers bullpen since Alex Vesia: Evan Phillips, who is finally healthy and pitching reasonably well in the time he’s been available.
When Phillips last pitched in the postseason, he was instrumental in helping the Dodgers get to the World Series before an injury kept him from participating in the Fall Classic. At his best, Phillips doesn’t come close to Díaz’s level, but he’s still a formidable force, and as things currently stand, there is no reason to believe he won’t carry that into October. He is probably the easiest name to be skipped to the front of the line in the race for high-leverage opportunities.
Beyond Phillips, you have Brock Stewart and Blake Treinen, whose case for reliability is a bit murkier, but it’s there nonetheless. However, the thing to note here is that even superb bullpens don’t have options of this quality just lying around with a small chance of being a big factor in the playoffs. It might even deserve more appreciation.
