The signing of right-handed pitcher Hansel Robles to a minor league contract by the Dodgers was originally reported by Mike Rodrguez of Univision and Juan Toribio of MLB.com. Robles will be playing for the Dodgers’ minor league affiliate.
The Addition of Hansel Robles to the Dodgers’ Volume Relief Strategy!
The 31-year-old reliever is the newest addition to the Dodgers’ bank of veteran relievers, all of whom have the potential to assist the team in the second half of the season.
After a span in which Robles surrendered 11 runs across his previous eight appearances for the Red Sox, the team made the decision to dismiss him on June 9th.
Up until the 10th of June, he had an earned run average of 2.37, despite the fact that his peripheral metrics at the time (19 percent strikeout rate and 4.63 FIP) did not entirely support it.
However, things went steadily in the wrong direction for nearly a month before Boston released him.
That’s just how unpredictable disaster relief efforts can be. Robles was outstanding with the Angels over the course of a season and a half, posting a 2.64 earned run average, a 2.99 fielding independent pitching average, and 25 saves in 109 innings pitched.
Robles has pitched 11013 innings and has a 5.63 ERA and 4.86 FIP since the beginning of the year 2020. According to Toribio, Robles will join the company when he moves up to the Triple-A level to play in Oklahoma City.
In an effort to get back to full strength after having shoulder surgery in July of last year, Dellin Betances is currently in his fourth week at the Triple-A level.
Betances, who is now 34 years old, was one of the most powerful relievers in the sport from 2014 through 2018. Since the beginning of 2019, however, he has only pitched a total of 28 innings in the majors and the minors combined due to injuries.
Betances has had mediocre success in Oklahoma City, posting a 6.14 earned run average through eight games while preventing opponents from hitting home runs.
Once, he pitched in consecutive games, but then he took a break for five days before pitching on Thursday night and conceding two runs. In Triple-A, Betances’s average fastball velocity is 93.6 miles per hour, which is four ticks slower than it was in his prime.
There is a possibility that Pedro Báez will join Oklahoma City in the near future. After suffering from shoulder issues both this season and last while playing for the Astros, the veteran right-hander signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in May in order to make his way back to the team.
Báez, who is currently 34 years old, has pitched in three games in the Arizona Complex League.
In those games, he has thrown three innings without allowing any runs and has struck out two batters while allowing only one hit. His most recent outing was on Tuesday.
These three individuals have significant pitching experience in the major leagues and are currently striving to get back into the rotation.
Because Robles has already pitched at the major league level this month and is not still making his way back from injury, it is reasonable to assume that he is the member of this group who is the closest to the majors. This, of course, depends on how Betances has been judged.
They all appear to belong to the same group of relief pitchers who could be of assistance to the Dodgers in the home stretch.
In addition to the multitude of pitchers who are already on the injured list, this group also includes Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, Tommy Kahnle, and possibly even Danny Duffy, all of whom are anticipated to return at some point in the future, most likely in August at the earliest.
The Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen is ranked sixth in Major League Baseball for earned run average (3.26), fifth for fielding independent pitching (3.31), and fifth for strikeout rate (26.1 percent), and second for strikeout-minus-walk rate (18.8 percent).
However, they may most certainly benefit from the addition of some reinforcements. The Dodgers have achieved success in terms of the quantity component of the depth front. At this point, all we can do is wait and see which ones will contribute to the overall quality.