Some nights, the bullpen of the Dodgers looks almost untouchable. Other nights, its performance is so ineffective that fans of the team imagine dozens of trade possibilities they hope might go down at the summer deadline.
The good news is that the back-end of the bullpen is starting to shape up nicely. Dylan Floro has been outstanding this season, and if he’s able to remedy a few minor command issues, he could ultimately emerge as one of the most effective relief options in baseball during the second-half of the year.
As we all know, Pedro Baez certainly has the talent to succeed. His good outings are becoming greater than his bad ones, and there’s no question that his arm will play large for the Dodgers during the second half of the season.
Kenley Jansen also seems to be regaining his mojo as his cutter is seemingly returning to its old form. As he continues to fine-tune his four-seam and slider, it’s easy to see the big man’s confidence returning in full force sooner rather than later.
Nevertheless, there will undoubtedly be a revolving door among the remainder of the relief crew. Some will be placed on the shelf because of injuries and others will be demoted simply because of performance. We’ve already seen a quartet of fringe players in the big league pen—Brock Stewart, Dennis Santana, Josh Sborz and Jaime Schultz—but if the Los Angeles management team stays true to form, we could see even more players who fans have yet to consider, especially because there are still unfilled vacancies on the team’s 40-man roster.
Here are four under-the-radar names that could quite possibly see action for the big league squad this year:
Kevin Quackenbush—The Dodgers signed righty Kevin Quackenbush not long after the conclusion of the World Series, but any enthusiasm surrounding the deal has since dissipated. The 30-year-old journeyman appeared in 193 games for the Padres between 2014 and 2017, posting a 13-14 record over 198-1/3 innings. His best season was also his first in the big leagues, striking out 56 over 54-1/3 frames in 2014. So far this year, the Florida native has struck out 25 batters over 13 appearances and 17-2/3 innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City in the hitter-friendly confines of the Pacific Coast League. Quackenbush is another example of one of Andrew Friedman’s low-risk/high-reward investments and could see some big league action depending on the needs of the team.
Luis Vasquez—Make no mistake—yes, this is the same Luis Vasquez who was firing 100 MPH heaters as a 22 year old back in 2009 when the Inland Empire 66ers were still an affiliate of the Dodgers. Vasquez left the organization after latching on with the Braves in 2014 and later the Royals in 2018, but has recently returned to the Dodgers’ farm on a minors deal. Between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A OKC this year, he has thrown an even 13 innings over 10 appearances, allowing eight hits while striking out 18 batters. Now at 33 years of age, his fastball certainly isn’t the same as his younger days, but his experience could prove to be valuable in the big league pen.
Jordan Sheffield—Yesterday, our Twitter friend @FutureDodgers pointed out that hard-throwing righty Jordan Sheffield was promoted to Tulsa after finding success in the hitter-friendly confines of the Cal League. So far this season, he has made 15 appearances, registering seven saves and striking out a whopping 26 batters over 17-1/3 innings of work. Once highly regarded as a starting pitching prospect, the 23-year-old Tennessee native has shifted back to a relief role. Sheffield’s four-seam sits in the mid-nineties, but topped out as high as 98 MPH last year at Rancho. He also features a hard three-quarter slider which sits in the upper-eighties, and a circle change that shows a ton of nasty movement.
Marshall Kasowski—Last year, Marshall Kasowski was one of our favorite prospects to discuss, specifically when it came to all the bullpen arms in the minors. He wowed the Los Angeles fan base after punching out a ridiculous 111 batters over 41 appearances and 64-2/3 innings of work across three levels in 2018. So far this season, the 24-year-old righty has made 11 appearances for Tulsa, striking out an impressive 26 batters over 13-1/3 innings while allowing just three runs. His heater, which sits in the low-to-mid nineties and tops out as high as 96, is definitely his strength. But it’s his unorthodox delivery which initially caught the eye of the major league scouts. He throws from a slot right next to his ear, which creates a very deceptive motion that leads to him missing plenty of bats.
On a final note, June 3 may be a date worth remembering, not only because it is the first day of the 2019 MLB draft, but also because it is the first day that any big league club can sign righty reliever Craig Kimbrel without having to return a compensatory draft pick back to the Red Sox.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Come on Dennis. Floro has not really been outstanding despite his era and Jansen has not even been close to “jansen”. Blown saves (two of which he has won) , era over 4 and a rare inning where he has not allowed at least one runner. If he ever had to pitch in pressure situation ( 7th or 8th innings) we would not be happy with his performance this year.
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Sorry Gordon, you missed the mark on Floro. Up until he allowed the Grand Slam, he had only allowed 4 inherited runners to score out of 14. That’s pretty good. He has only walked 2 and struck out 14 so his K ratio is 7 to 1. He has been Roberts most effective reliever out of the pen. Jansen is definitely not the Kenley of old. But anyone expecting that is not facing reality. His cutter and fastball have both decreased in velocity. But he got the save. So why is everyone crying? They won the game, are 4.5 games in front of the d-Backs who might lose a couple pitchers to injury’s this week. Greinke is scheduled for an MRI. They are in a much better spot. So sit back and enjoy it while you can, and worry about the small stuff when it finally happens..
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Either way, I feel that Floro has exceeded expectations.
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Quackenbush Lives!!!!!
Vasquez – his heater must still have some life if he’s striking out almost 1.5 guys per inning
Sheffield – wise decision by AF (or whomever) to let him concentrate on relief. His future is in the bullpen.
Kasowski – Go Big K !
June 3rd – Kenley is busy laying out the welcome mat for Kimbrel. He’s just dying to share his closer duties.
By the way, there seems to be some uncertainty whether it’s going to be June 3rd or June 5th (last day of draft)
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Dodgers won’t sign Kimbrel as long as he still demands a long term 50 million dollar plus contract. We all know Ol Andy does not roll that way. Dodgers actually have acquired Floro twice. Once as a free agent, then in a trade with the Reds.
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No game today..Eric Kratz traded again, he joins d’Arnaud in Tampa.
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Looks like there’s a chance we could see Kyle Garlick tomorrow.
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yeah, Gale and Chargois optioned back to OKC and Ferguson activated. 1 roster spot open
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If Chargois could catch, he would have stayed. Too bad.
If Kyle comes, I really hope he does well. I’d hate for him to have people screaming at him “Garlick, you stink!”
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Chargois may not be able to catch, but he sure knows how to cook a good crawfish.
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As you probably recall, I’m a fan of his (the pitching, not the cooking) and I really hope he gets another chance.
Who better to assign the task of cooking crawfish than a Cajun guy. If his pitching career fizzles, maybe he can have a crawfish stand at the Stadium, kind of like Boog Powell has his barbeque thing in Baltimore.
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JP Hoornstra reporting both Beaty and Garlick are coming. Sounds like one of our position players may be headed to the IL. Nope…………………….it’s Maeda.
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Dennis, what’s up with Alvarez and Cooper
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Alvarez is falling off the radar quicker than McCourt lost ownership. Haven’t heard anything about Cooper in a while. Perhaps the biggest mystery is Yaisel Sierra.
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Sierra is on the OKC roster, He is currently on the IL and has not pitched this year. Obviously has some sort of injury
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Bear1, Sierra did not throw a single pitch last year, either.
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I thought they were going to make Alvarez a reliever like Sheffield
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Have we talked about Zach Reks lately? 25 yr old outfielder drafted in 2017. Good average and OBP but until this year no power (last 2 years 460 at bats, 7 homers). This year he was leading the Texas League in homers (9 in about 110 at bats). Got promoted to OKC and in his first game today he hit a 3-run homer. Probably need to keep our eyes on him, although he’s another lefty hitter.
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Prior to reading this, I was just jotting down some notes about Reks.
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Seems like we often think along similar lines, my friend. Would be interested to read anything you come up with on Mr. Reks.
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I was just looking at some tweets from the Drillers. Nevertheless, I did mention Reks’ name when I wrote that bit about Omar Estevez and D.J. Martin last week.
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Apparently, Jaime Schultz is doing the closing at OKC these days.
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If the rain stays away, Mitchell White will make his Triple-A debut for OKC tonight.
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Our Cuban signings have been the biggest disaster since the Bay of Pigs. Somebody should have got fired over that
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uh, signing those guys did not entail going to war., so maybe it was a lesser scale?? LOL
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I think somebody did get fired. Seems to me I heard that a lot of the guys who had a part in those signings aren’t around any more, although I could be mistaken. Maybe someone else can confirm.
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Speaking of Sheffield he just finished closing out a win for Tulsa. Three shutout innings. Still era of zero. He could be the real deal. He has the stuff!
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Bear, barely!
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