Editorials

Five Wild Cards Who Could Determine The Dodgers season

Vincent Samperio-Dodgers Nation
Vincent Samperio-Dodgers Nation

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3. Chris Hatcher



Aside from the obvious — sheer, unequivocal, uninterrupted dominance — the thing managers crave most from a bullpen is predictability. They want to know what they’re getting, even if the “what” has a few warts.

Those can generally be planned around. As last season went on, what Don Mattingly had at his disposal was generally the opposite. Aside from Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell*, predictable, reliable arms were in short supply.

This winter, the Dodgers didn’t solve the pen problem with high-profile fixes, but instead acquired a bunch of things to throw at the wall to see what sticks. Perhaps the most intriguing is Hatcher. He has the killer backstory of having made it to the Majors first as a catcher, only to return as a reliever, and because of that is the rare 30 year old pitcher with almost no mileage on his arm.

Last year in Miami, Hatcher threw 56 innings, posting a 3.38 ERA and about a 5/1 K/BB rate. Given how late he came to pitching, if this Hatcher’s Big Leap Forward as a hurler, the Dodgers could find themselves with a serious power arm from the right side, capable of simultaneously stabilizing the Dodgers bullpen and the blood pressure of Dodgers fans.

*Even Howell got wonky late and into the postseason, likely a result of Mattingly having to use him about 2,000 times over the course of the year. 

CONTINUE READING: Two More Wild Cards

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5 Comments

  1. Great list! So much hinges on the success of bullpen this year — that could be a wild card story all on its own.

  2. I agree great list. I am very impressed with some of the BP guys in Spring such as Santos and Tsao. As the catchers together batted about .188 any improvement will help make up the difference between the offense of Kemp, Ramirez and speed of Gordon. I think Kendrick is a huge offensive upgrade. Especially in tight games as he is a tough grind it out line drive hitter. Rollins knows how to work counts and if you watch Pederson he tends to work counts and get on base. So I think with the huge improvement of the defense, much better BP and smarter grind it out hitters we will have a dynamic club this year. This really matters against good clubs and in the playoffs.

    1. You asked about Kemp in Petco…he actually hits great there…Has well over a .300 average there……somebody said to me, well that is against Padre pitching, which really is not that bad…and besides now he hits against all teams there…..he kills Rockies pitchers too. the only question is how will he do vs the Blue..

  3. Kinda scary when two out of five starters are considered “wild cards.” Plus the guy you trade Matt Kemp for? Hmmm…..

  4. We will see during the Season but Grandal has very poor mechanics. He does not catch low balls to his left well and his throws to second are erratic. So he can frame the pitches he can catch but that critical breaking ball in the dirt for a strike? He cannot catch or knock it down. He does hit some line drives but they seem to be at people. So far not impressed.
    Pederson looks good enough and he his very good defensively and has a better arm than I thought. Love Kendrick. McCarthy and Anderson look very solid now if they can just stay healthy….

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