Dodgers

Dodgers Bullpen Continues To Make History Thanks to Mark Prior

Despite a few injuries keeping some of the Dodgers’ star pitchers on the Il, LA’s bullpen remains one of the best for the fourth year in a row.

If you even if you aren’t a Dodgers fan but you consider yourself a baseball connoisseur then you have to respect the type of season LA is having. 

View the original article to see embedded media.

The Boys in Blue are fresh off a 10-6 win over Miami and have now won 42 of their past 51 games. They are 87-37 this season with a whopping 19.5 game advantage in the NL West. 

Although much of the well-deserved attention has been towards the flashy trifecta of Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, the successful season would not be possible without a stellar bullpen to back them up.

Including the 2022 season, over the past four years, the Dodgers have developed some of baseball’s greatest pitchers including Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and even Hyun Jin-Ryu.

A recent stat was published proving just how dangerous the Dodgers defense is against any batter who steps up to the plate: 

Across the league, the average OPB’s have been .323 (2019), .322 (2020), .317 (2021) and .312 so far this season. So clearly, the Dodgers are pitching much better than the average but we already knew that from their ability to hold teams to scoring only 395 runs to their 674 runs.

Although the Dodgers have gotten lucky with acquiring a few superstar pitchers from other teams, they really have one specific man to thank for the excellence of the infamous Dodgers farm system. 

Mark Prior has helped develop some of the best pitchers who continue to smash records while shutting teams down. No wonder they’ve led the league nearly all year with the lowest ERA at 2.98.

Before Prior, the Dodgers looked to Rick Honeycutt as the man behind the magic. With Honeycutt, the Dodgers led the majors in 2019 in ERA (3.39), WHIP (1.10) and walk rate (6.6%). The numbers remained the same and even better once Prior took over.

The former major league pitcher has led the Dodgers in opponents’ batting average (.207), WHIP (1.10), and team ERA (3.01).

Its no surprise that teams suffer some big losses due to injuries from their superstars but even when the IL does claim those players, the Dodgers are still able to get it done with whoever is on the mound. That depth is impressive and unmatched by anyone in the league. 

Read More 

Back to top button