The Dodgers bullpen is simply atrocious at this point in time. With a hard thrower on the way, excitement was mounting, however, his rehab outing didn't go good at all.
Dodgers' $5M flamethrower's command issues prove disastrous in disheartening rehab assignment originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen has been struggling lately, which is surprising coming off a dominant 2024 season. Over the past month, the bullpen has become the worst part of the Dodgers’ team. Until proven otherwise, there is little hope the bullpen will turn things around.
“What happened was the Dodgers’ belief in the recovering health of their bullpen. And, um, yeah, unless you want to bring Bobby Miller up from Oklahoma City to close games (not a bad idea, eh?), it’s not getting fixed anytime soon,” Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plasche wrote.
Several players with veteran experience are close to returning to the bullpen. Michael Kopech was the headline addition at the 2024 trade deadline.
“As part of a massive three-team trade with the White Sox and Cardinals, the Dodgers landed utilityman Tommy Edman and Minor League right-hander Oliver Gonzalez from St. Louis and right-handed pitcher Michael Kopech from the White Sox,” MLB.com’s Juan Toribio wrote.
Kopech has faced injury troubles in 2025. After undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus, he is now working his way back to the major league bullpen. Kopech is a flamethrower who can pump fastballs right by hitters. However, during his rehab assignment, he showed signs of possible command issues coming off the injury.
“Dodgers Michael Kopech’s inning for OKC — faced 6 batters, gave up 2 hits, 2 SBs, walked two, threw a wild pitch. Charged with 3 runs in 2/3 IP. 24 pitches only 10 strikes,” Dodgers beat writer Bill Plunkett wrote.
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The timing couldn’t be worse for the Dodgers. Just as they thought help was on the way, Kopech experienced the same problems currently plaguing the major league bullpen. The Dodgers are entering a crucial series against the Padres starting Friday, who took the division lead on Wednesday. The bullpen must figure things out if the Dodgers want any chance of winning the series.
Category: Baseball
