The Dodger bullpen was so crowded that Ryan Brasier was designated for assignment and flipped to the Cubs a little over a month ago, despite posting a solid 3.54 earned run average last year. Since camp has opened, a few injuries have created a bit of breathing room, with Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech a bit behind the rest of the group.
It was reported about three weeks ago that both pitchers were delayed as camp opened. Phillips was diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during last year’s playoffs. Surgery was not recommended and a cortisone injection had led to some healing, but the damage lingered into at least December and slowed his offseason throwing progression. It was reported a little over a week ago that the righty would not be ready by Opening Day.
Manager Dave Roberts provided Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic with a positive update. Roberts relayed that he watched Phillips throw a bullpen session today and came away impressed. He added that Phillips will stay in Arizona to continue getting work in while most of the Dodgers head to Japan for the Tokyo Series. Phillips will miss those Tokyo games and the start of the domestic regular season but Roberts says he should be back with the club in the first half of April. That’s good news as Phillips posted a 2.21 earned run average with the Dodgers over the past three seasons, striking out 29.6% of opponents while only giving out walks at a 6.5% clip.
As for Kopech, his track record as a reliever is far shorter but he still projects to be a key part of the bullpen. A starter for most of his career, he moved to relief work last year and had a 3.46 ERA between the White Sox and Dodgers. His 12.2% walk rate for the year was high but he punched out 31.5% of batters faced.
But he has been battling some forearm inflammation in recent months, putting his status for the start of 2025 in question. Yesterday, Ardaya relayed that Kopech was throwing a bullpen session. Kopech’s status is still up in the air but it does at least seem as though some progress is being made.
With some extra bullpen opportunities opening up, it could have been a chance for someone like Edgardo Henriquez to earn a job, but that won’t happen now. The young righty was spotted in a walking boot in the clubhouse yesterday. Roberts told Ardaya that the righty had a “mishap” away from the field and will be out of action for about four to six weeks. While the nature of the injury is mysterious, the point is that Henriquez won’t be able to step up and force his way into the bullpen while Phillips and Kopech are delayed.
Henriquez, 23 in June, was called up by the Dodgers late in September of last year. He tossed 3 1/3 innings but impressed the club enough to make the playoff roster, tossing another five innings in the postseason.
It’s hard to read much into that small sample of work but he averaged 98.7 miles per hour on his heater and 89.4 mph with his cutter. Prior to his call-up, he logged 53 minor league innings last year with a 2.72 ERA and 38.9% strikeout rate. The 12.8% walk rate is on the high side but the punchouts are huge and he is still young. He should factor into the Dodger bullpen mix down the line but will have to stay on ice for now.
There’s no good reason to hate on the success of a Guggenheim Group, that totally turned around the fortunes of the LA Dodgers in a space of approximately 13 years.
I’m far more impressed by what the Giants did in the 2010s or what the Astros have done more recently. The Dodgers need to win multiple WS to back up their large payroll.
The Dodgers and the Astros both have 2 rings though.
I hear your points and they’re good ones. But, in my opinion the Giants of the 2010’s never LOOKED like a juggernaut(on paper) they just played like it on the field.
Those Giants didn’t really hit that much(just enough)and so I don’t think teams were intimidated by them. Obviously, those Giants had all-world pitching with Bum, Cain, Lincecum and others.
I just think the Giants were more than the sum of their parts and the Dodgers just win with sheer talent, professionalism(not suggesting the Giants were not pros)and resources.
Obviously we’re both splitting hairs, because both teams were and are dominant, great teams with excellent front offices and business plans.
The Astros tanked for years causing mass fan suffering and then cheated. Lots of impressed!!!!
Giants were a wild-card team – not impressed. Astros only won once legitimately while Dodgers have won twice. Look for the Dodgers to be the first team since the 1950s Yankees to win four WS titles in the same decade. The 2020’s will be the drive for five.
Astros? Documented Cheaters don’t impress me. Sorry.
Just for giggles, combined records 2009-24:
Giants: .516
Dodgers: .558
More for giggles, combined records from 2010 to 2019:
Giants: .509
Dodgers: .567
Turn those giggles into guffaws by listing the last 9 years:
2016–2024:
Dodgers .605
Giants .499
Okie dokie but I was responding to claims of how impressive the Giants were in the 2010s.
Just for giggles?? And here I thought Dodgers fans have no sense of humor.
The Giants provide all the humor needed for a happy life.
Dodgers have eight World Series Championships. How does that compare with the Astros?
The dodgers never had to tank 10 straight seasons, in order to stock up on high drafted prospects, like that houston team.
Banging on trash cans and buzzers in their shirts is more impressive?
Please stop.
Astros stole a world series and then legitimately won one.
If it werent for 2017, Dodgers would have 3, and the Astros one.
There have been 16 different mlb clubs that have won a World Series since 2000. That’s more than half of MLB, in 24 years. Don’t mean to take away from what they did without the trash cans and buzzers, but they haven’t done anything than more than half the clubs in baseball have done.
I’m trying to get the Guggenheim Guys to buy my franchise too.
An informative article that probably won’t get any play here because it ran in the LA Times included comments from players about the hurt they were enduring in the postseason, more than has been reported previously. Kopech in particular was pitching through a lot of pain.
But I wonder, who is more like Edgardo Henriquez than Edgardo Henriquez?
Fwiw Phillip had a prp injection, not cortisone.
Im following this closely because I have the same injury and they want to do the same treatment.
Best of luck with your recovery. It sounds like the Dodgers could use you in the bullpen or at least as minor league depth.
Dodgers have been in four World Series’ in eight years. Won two and were cheated on in at one of those loses. Dang man, that is a kin to the Giants every other year performance, maybe.
GO BLUE!!
In addition, the Giants needed the crutch of the wild-card format to qualify for their 2014 title.
I remember when Koepec was the feared WS prospect up and coming in the Central….