Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Shines A Light on Unsung Bullpen Hero
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gives a lot of credit to bullpen coach Josh Bard for the way the L.A. relievers have come together to form a dominant staff.
The Dodgers headed into the postseason with a set closer. In fact, the only two pitchers who had more than four saves this season aren’t even on the postseason roster, with Daniel Hudson (five saves) recovering from a torn ACL and Craig Kimbrel (22 saves) twiddling his thumbs to see if a roster spot opens up for him.
In Game 1 of the NLDS, manager Dave Roberts deployed his bullpen masterfully, with Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, and Chris Martin throwing four shutout innings to lock down a 5-3 win.
After the game, Roberts was asked by the media about how the bullpen has come together and how the individual relievers have all bought into the closer-by-committee approach the Dodgers have decided to take.
“They have come together. They’ve come together really 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.”
You don’t think about a bullpen coach very much, but bullpen coach was the role Mark Prior filled before becoming L.A.’s pitching coach. When you see how every last reliever on the team has fully bought into the process, it makes sense that the bullpen coach had a lot to do with that.
The Dodgers head into Game 2 with more relievers ready to go. Tommy Kahnle, Blake Treinen, and Yency Almonte didn’t pitch in Game 1, and Martin and Graterol had workloads that would definitely allow them to go in Game 2. But however Roberts chooses to deploy his weapons, you can bet the pitchers themselves will be 100 percent on board. And we probably have Josh Bard to thank for that.