Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan add needed depth to Dodgers bullpen

They were certainly not the biggest names the Dodgers got in their three-team trade with the Braves and Marlins, but relievers Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan might have the most immediate impact of all the new players.

The Dodgers officially introduced Johnson and Avilan, alongside Alex Wood, before Friday’s game, and the two made it clear they understood their role in Los Angeles’s bullpen.

“The purpose of Luis and I is to obviously strengthen the back end of the bullpen,” Johnson said. “Every team that wants to play into October and win in October, the key factor is getting those big outs at the end of the game. It’s a no-brainer and that’s what we’re here to do.”

The duo brings needed depth to a relief corps that has dealt with injuries and rotated through set-up men all season.

Johnson has a history of getting the very last outs of the game. Over the 2012 and 2013 seasons, he had a combined 101 saves for the Baltimore Orioles. And while he has since primarily pitched in the eighth inning, he did pick up nine saves for the Braves at the beginning of the season.

But he has no illusions about taking Kenley Jansen’s job.

“Obviously Kenley’s been one of the best guys in the game for a while, and I’m not here to do anything but help pull the rope in the same direction as everyone else. I always refer to the bullpen as a team within a team, and we all do our part together.”

Avilan and Johnson have appeared in 50 and 49 games this year, respectively, and Johnson said he hoped they could provide a potent one-two punch in the seventh and eighth innings to set Jansen up.

“We call it shake and bake,” he joked.

However, with the presence of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and now Mat Latos and Alex Wood in the rotation, relief in the seventh inning might not be all that necessary.

While Latos was absent from Friday’s press conference, Wood expressed excitement about joining the organization and having the chance to learn from some of baseball’s top pitchers.

“Kershaw and Greinke and some of the other guys are probably going to hate me because I’m going to ask so many questions,” Wood said. “Especially in this game, there’s always new things you can pick up, both physical and mental. They’ve obviously figured something out, so I can’t wait to pick their brains.”