Do the Dodgers Have a Lefty Reliever Problem?
Thwarted in his efforts to add a fifth base, ban the foul out and install a frozen yogurt stand in short center field, baseball-hating Commissioner Rob Manfred settled on a three-batter minimum for relief pitchers, new in 2020.
While the commissioner’s idea to digitally replace the base runner in a rundown with a giant flashing pickle (sponsored by Claussen) is being fought on all fronts, the new rule for relievers is official and an actually happening thing. It’s supposed to shorten innings and games times, but in practice likely won’t. What it'll do is create quandaries for managers and send a fair percentage of left-handed relief specialists to the unemployment line.
The Dodgers have one such left-handed relief specialist. His name is Adam Kolarek, who's allowed eight earned runs in his last two outings. The spring line looks like this: 4 2/3, 10 H, 8 R, 1 BB, 4 Ks, with a 15.43 ERA and a 2.357 WHIP, God bless em.
During his second-to-last outing versus the Rangers on March 1, Kolarek allowed four runs on six hits, almost exclusively against right-hand batters, but managed to get three outs. Skipper Dave Roberts wanted to see how his LOOGY would do in such a situation. And got his answer. It was ugly.
Yesterday, also vs. Texas, Kolarek allowed a single to a lefty swinger and induced two ground balls for outs (.333). The righties faired this way: double, walk, booming three-run home to dead center. That's good for a 1.000 batting average against and a slugging of 3.000. Or bad for. With Dennis Santana relieving and facing one batter, and if you care about such things, the inning took nine minutes.
Sure, it's only Spring Training, and two outings at that, but the point of an exhibition season -- one of them, anyway -- is to separate the useful from the rest and determine a roster to begin regulation play.
Kolarek's 2019 splits? .178/.221/.262 vs. LHB, which is good; .282/.362/.495, which is bad. Very bad. Lifetime it's .199/.243/.281 vs. left and .299/.368/.480 vs. right. So I think it's safe to say that Kolarek should face only the weakest of RHB. Which means bottom-of-the-order hitters or a walk with a base open, to name a couple of possibilities. Of course, you can use him to face several left-hand hitters in a row in a spot where a pinch hitter might not be employed, or to get a third out in an inning, when the three-batter rule won't apply. That might be just enough usage to justify the roster spot. Or not.
Scott Alexander's career splits are considerably better: .250/.316/.328 vs. LHB; .253/.335/.363 vs. RHB, but check out his 2019 numbers and draw your conclusions: .364/.400/.576 vs. LHB; .143/.268/.257 vs. RHB.
For what it's worth, both Kolarek and Alexander have minor league options, so that's not an issue. So does Caleb Ferguson, who was a revelation as a rookie in 2018, struggled in 2019 and has been lights out thus far in the spring. He's allowed a grand total of zero base runners in 4 1/3, with three strikeouts.
Right-hander Pedro Baez is quite good vs. LHB (.186/.270/.335 last year), so that's a consideration when constructing a roster.
If the season started today, Los Angeles would do well with Ferguson as the lone left-hander in the pen, with a more deserving right-hander (such as Tony Gonsolin) replacing Kolarek or Alexander on the Opening Day roster.
So no, the Dodgers do not have a lefty reliever problem on their hands. But thanks for asking.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
