Dodgers: Dave Roberts Hints at Potential Opening Day Bullpen after Treinen Debut
On Saturday afternoon at Camelback Ranch, offseason acquisition Blake Treinen made his anticipated Dodger debut. The right-handed throwing reliever did what he does best (when he’s at his best) and induced three infield outs, two via groundout.
After his outing, the reliever was happy about a healthy and productive outing.
Blake Treinen postgame part 2/2:
"It's probably the healthiest I've felt ever in spring" pic.twitter.com/LQn9dJ5mvS
— offseason cryptid ???????????? (@inplay_runs) March 8, 2020
More importantly after the outing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made something close to a proclamation about the potential makeup of opening day bullpen for LA.
Our bullpen is a position of strength. If you look at the construction of our potential ‘pen and what these guys have done, it’s a safe bet Kenley [Jansen] and Joe [Kelly] will bounce back. Pedro [Baez] has solidified himself as a leverage guy. [Ross] Stripling and [Scott] Alexander, these are good names. Now you bring in [Brusdar] Graterol, [Dennis] Santana and [Adam] Kolarek.
Feel free to take it with a grain of salt, but this is the closest he’s come to listing pitchers for bullpen roles.
Moreover, with his statement, it seems to solidify the already assumed rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, David Price, Julio Urias, and Alex Wood as he mentions Ross Stripling amongst bullpen options.
Notably, Stripling is continuing to work as a starter this spring.
.@alannarizzo talks with @RossStripling following his three innings of work against the Mariners. pic.twitter.com/ddSycCuZlZ
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) March 7, 2020
Now, with Jansen, Kelly, Baez, Treinen, Stripling, and Alexander on Roberts’ short list of relief arms, and Graterol, Santana, and Kolarek having great-to-fine springs, it could lead to someone like Jimmy Nelson seeing time on the injured list to start the season.
Additionally, Doc already mentioned the likelihood of righties Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin starting the season in Triple-A. Along with them, 2019 bullpen stalwart Dylan Floro has one option year left, which offers the club more flexibility.
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[adace-ad id=”120372″]Put it all together and there are 14 pitchers mentioned within this article that fit Dave’s projected pitching staff. That, of course, is too many. Even with the new 26-man active roster, the maximum amount of active pitchers a team can carry is 13. This likely leaves Santana and/or Graterol off the roster, at least to start the season.
As Dave said, the bullpen appears to be a position of strength, and this time he might actually be right.
NEXT: Dodgers All-New Pitching Coach Staff Being Embraced
Is this an editorial or a news article? News/facts, or opinion?
Actually clint is just a paid cheerleader. He’s never had an original thought in his head. Robert’s never even mentioned treinen in the 8 relievers. And what he says and what he does with 3 weeks left is just fluff for cheerleader like clint to relay to us that aren’t baseball people. Roberts cant even pick the best 8 because he has to include friedmans reclamation projects.
Spot on Bogo…..
It’s clearly marked as an editorial. I think should Gonsolin & May start in AAA it’s because Dodgers see them as starters and want them to continue to stretch out and gain experience instead of sitting in pen. The way Dodgers work, wouldn’t be surprised to see each of them make 5-10 starts at big league level this year. Remember it’s a 15 day IL this year not a10 day.
With whoever is in the BP throughout the year, Roberts must do a better managing job of them so as to not over work them too soon. Let the starters if possible go deeper into games and stop with this constant lefty/righty match up obsessions . and I am glad there is a limit on 13 pitchers because that will keep Dodgers from having a short bench because if they had their way Roberts and Co. would have about 15 pitchers on this roster.
At least Roberts will have a assortment of Hard throwing pitchers this season. I have complained adamantly in the past about the lack of flame throwers on this team. Teams that win it always have a Chapman or 2 in the bull pen and have starters that can throw harder than 94 mph. In the past the Dodgers had maybe one or 2 on the entire roster. Now with Baez, Kelly, Graterol, Buehler , May, Urias Trienen and hopefully Kenley, this staff is loaded with hard throwing guys. Finally, this team has a plethora of options other than Floro, Alexander, Yimi flubs. I feel very confident about this years B.P., and even Roberts will have a hard time screwing it up….
Paul, moderation Gestapo cut out my last post.What I said was we have so many flame throwers finally, even Roberts will have a hard time F-in it up…
I’m tired of hearing Roberts and Jansen talk about how Jansen’s is in great shape and he’s working on some things. Why will he have a roster spot on opening day? With the acquisition of Betts, this is a world championship or nothing year. I get there would be contract issues but keeping Jansen on the roster while he “finds his cutter” sets this team up for failure in the fall again. Jansen would look real good in a Marlins uniform later this month.