Led By Low-Cost Pickups, Dodgers Bullpen Flourishes Once Again

Image credit: Alex Vesia (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES—The Dodgers have been celebrated for many things during their historic run of dominance.

Their unparalleled ability to draft and develop, for one. Their ability to turn discarded position players into everyday standouts, for another. Most of all, for their ability to build such remarkable depth that, no matter how many injuries they suffer or how many key contributors underperform, they still manage to win 100-plus games.

With what’s transpired over the last year and change, they can now add building a dominant bullpen out of spare parts to their list of accomplishments.

The Dodgers had the lowest bullpen ERA in the National League this season despite Kenley Jansen leaving in free agency, established standouts Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson missing most of the season with injuries and closer Craig Kimbrel pitching so poorly he was left off the NL Division Series roster. They did it with pitchers like Evan Phillips and Alex Vesia, two 17th-round draft picks from small colleges deemed expendable by some of baseball’s worst teams.

Phillips and Vesia continued to demonstrate their enormous impact in Game 1 of the NLDS on Tuesday, entering in the middle innings to stifle a Padres rally and help the Dodgers to a 5-3 win in their playoff opener at Dodger Stadium. Both Phillips and Vesia have allowed only one run in their last 28 appearances including the postseason.

“I really don’t think we put much into you know, the big names or who’s getting those outs,” Phillips said. “I think we all just value each other as teammates. We value each other as a bullpen unit. So whenever the phone rings and our name is called, we treat every out equally, and we go out there and try to get the job done.”

With two on, no outs and the go-ahead run at the plate in the sixth inning, Phillips struck out Josh Bell swinging and induced an inning-ending double play from Wil Myers to escape unscathed and keep the Dodgers lead intact. Vesia entered in the seventh and retired five of the six batters he faced, including a critical strikeout of Austin Nola as a tying run at the plate to end the seventh.

It was a continuation of what the unheralded duo has done all season. Phillips, 28, posted a 1.14 ERA in 64 appearances, the lowest ERA in the majors among qualified relievers. Vesia, 26, went 5-0, 2.15 in 63 appearances and averaged 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings, eighth among qualified relievers. Combined with minor league free agent signee Yency Almonte (1.02 ERA, 33 G) and 38th-round pick Caleb Ferguson (1.82 ERA, 37 G), the Dodgers four best relievers by ERA were all acquired for little to nothing.

“Huge, very impactful players for our ballclub, for our bullpen,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Phillips and Vesia specifically. “It’s just a credit to the organization you know, finding these guys. Evan from Tampa and Alex from from Miami, and they’ve just come in and continued to grow (and) get better.

“I wish I could say I would have seen the leverage that they’d be pitching in a couple of years removed, but a lot of people get a lot of credit. Those two guys most importantly.”

 

As recently as two years ago, it would have seemed far-fetched that either Phillips or Vesia would be pitching in high-leverage relief for baseball’s winningest team in the postseason. Phillips was a 17th-round pick out of UNC Wilmington who was traded away by the Braves, released by the Orioles and designated for assignment by the Rays. Vesia was a 17th-round pick from Division II Cal State East Bay whom the Marlins quickly traded after he got rocked in his big league debut.

Each was deemed expendable, including by some of the worst teams in baseball. Normally, that would be an indication perhaps it’s time to look for another line of work.

Instead, the Dodgers saw something in both. They quickly claimed Phillips after he cleared waivers from the Rays because they were intrigued by the sweeping action on his slider. Based on their looks at Vesia during the Arizona Fall League in 2019, they made sure to acquire him with pitching prospect Kyle Hurt in the trade that sent veteran righthander Dylan Floro to Miami.

As soon as they got to Los Angeles, both flourished. Phillips honed his slider into one of baseball’s most dominant pitches and added a cutter that overwhelmed lefties. Vesia added velocity to his high-spin fastball and began throwing his slider more to give him a dynamic 1-2 punch from the left side.

Almost immediately, they became reliable options for the Dodgers and worked their way into high-leverage roles.

“I think we’ve done a good job, we’ve all bought into this concept of you know, when your name is called and the phone rings, you go get those outs,” Phillips said. “They (the Dodgers) do a good job of getting us prepared for each situation that we’re called upon for. I think you saw it drawn up that way tonight, and I think you’ll continue to see it go that way.”

Each has different perspectives on their rise. For Phillips, it’s merely background information and isn’t relevant to the task at hand.

“That’s something I’ll reflect on when the season’s over,” Phillips said. “I’ve tried to not let that cloud, you know, what we’re doing here as an organization. I feel very fortunate to just be a part of a winning culture. So coming where I’ve come from, I understand that it does mean a little bit more, but it’s not something I plan to really dive into until season’s over and hopefully our ultimate goal is accomplished.”

Vesia, meanwhile, uses his past as a constant source of motivation.

“(The) chip’s on my shoulder all the time,” he said. “I carry that in my heart pretty much every day. My college coach had told me, he said, ‘You’re not going to make your money in the draft. You’re going to make it in the big leagues.’ So that has always been pretty heavy on my heart.”

Whatever differences in their approach and mindset, both have been exceptionally effective. Together, they’ve helped the Dodgers cobble together a bullpen that once again led the NL in ERA and is already making a difference in the postseason.

“They have come together,” Roberts said. “They’ve come together as a really good solid group. I think Josh Bard, our bullpen coach, deserves a lot of credit challenging these guys for accountability and being unselfish and being open to whatever I ask of them.

“That’s kind of really showed itself. Those guys pull for each other, and it’s as good a group in the ‘pen that I have seen that we’ve had.”