The Los Angeles bullpen has allowed a franchise high 304 run this season. It doesn’t look like things will improve by October, so the defending champions must be creative with a playoff approach.
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One solution is to use a rotating piece, such as a right-handed Emmet Sheehan, in the relief. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed that the are considering all the options when it comes to high leverage situations.
“Yes, absolutely,” Roberts said. “I’m not worried (about his lack of relief experience). We took him out of the bullpen and used him with a short rest.”
Sheehan has won a 2.86 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 72.1 innings this season. The right-hander starts with perhaps his best start and throws seven shutout innings against the San Francisco giants on Sunday.
Sheehan scored a career-high 10 strikeouts, but the still lost 3-1 to the Giants. The strong starting pitching performance trend from LA following the bullpen meltdown has become awfully familiar.
However, the seem to be considering using some of the starters with confidence. Sheehan and Clayton Kershaw seem to be obvious candidates available from the bullpen.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani could make up a four-man rotation for the in the postseason.
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Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Image
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