Long a strength of the Los Angeles Dodgers and this front office has officially become a real cause for concern. Through 127.1 innings of relief, the bullpen has an ERA of 4.52 — good for 21st in the Majors.
For many teams, this wouldn’t be too far off the norm, I suppose. But the Dodgers are coming off back-to-back seasons in which their bullpen finished with an ERA among the top five in all of baseball (first in 2016; fourth in 2017).
Add into the equation that the Dodgers entered the season with what they assumed was one of the league’s top closers in Kenley Jansen and a strong group of returners that had been bolstered by the additions of Scott Alexander and JT Chargois.