Looking at the relievers most firmly in manager Dave Roberts’ trust tree in the bullpen.
After taking a look at the Dodgers starting pitching in two parts of our 2025 preview, we now turn our attention to the bullpen. The Dodgers had only the third-best bullpen by ERA in 2024, so they brought back all the main guys and added two of the best closers in baseball. Now, this is looking like the deepest bullpen of all time, with all six pitchers listed here being closer quality.
In addition, they are busting at the seams in starting pitching, which could overflow some extremely high-quality arms into the pen. Let’s start with probably the six most high-profile arms, and tomorrow, we’ll finish up this discussion with the rest of the bullpen depth.
Blake Treinen
The Dodgers kept Treinen under contract for the two years he was mostly injured from 2022-2023, and he rewarded them with another lights-out season in 2024. The last time his ERA was above two was in 2020. An ERA under two works, so they signed him for another two years.
An inside look at Dave Roberts’ mound visit with Blake Treinen in the 8th inning.
( : @MLBonFOX) pic.twitter.com/3PcGZFSKR1
— MLB (@MLB) October 31, 2024
Tanner Scott
Last year, he saved 22 games in 24 opportunities and had a gaudy ERA of 1.75. He seemed to figure something out two years ago, transforming from a mediocrity to a killer. The Dodgers got a good look at him during their postseason series with the Padres and signed him to be their primary closer. It was the same “if you can’t beat him, sign him” strategy they used when they signed Joe Kelly after he dominated them in the 2018 World Series.
Alex Vesia
The soon-to-be 29-year-old Alex Vesia has pitched all but four of his major league innings for the Dodgers. With 290 strikeouts in 215⅔ lifetime innings, batters hit just .148 against him during a stellar 2024 season. With three dominant seasons in the last four years, Vesia has been one of the best middle relievers in baseball since 2021. He has averaged over 60 games a year for the past three seasons by managing to avoid the disabled list, a quality the Dodgers can appreciate during this period when injuries to their pitchers have become epidemic.
Kirby Yates
Yates, who turns 38 on Tuesday, is coming off a ridiculous year where he had a 1.17 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and a .113 batting average against him. His last four healthy years have been dominant, and if you want to understand the state of the Dodgers bullpen, Kirby last year converted 33 out of 34 save opportunities, and nobody is talking about him as the closer.
Evan Phillips
After being almost untouchable for two years, Phillips had more of a pedestrian season in 2024. He’s saved 42 games in 49 opportunities in the last two seasons but will probably be used more in middle relief this year. Phillips has pitched in more than 60 games for three years in a row, but that said, he is on the injured list to start the season, though he is not expected to be out for very long.
Michael Kopech
He was getting lit up until the Dodgers traded for him, then the Dodgers zapped him with their magic pitcher-fixer wand, and his WHIP went from 1.351 with the White Sox to 0.792 with the Dodgers. He gave up one run in August, two runs in September, then allowed only three runs in October while dealing arm soreness. He’s on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement to open 2025.