It wasn’t great, but Dodgers’ bullpen not as bad as you might think

Ah, the bullpen. The Dodgers’ great Achilles’ heel. Bane of their existence.

Right?

Memories from 2014 scarred deeply, so much so that a shudder down the spine is felt at its mere mention. Lousy in the regular season, an absolute concussion grenade to the postseason, unreliable and just generally a weakness too great to overcome.

And it was more of the same in 2015 … or maybe not.

That’s not to say the bullpen was elite or very good, but it wasn’t as completely abysmal as you might think. And it actually was nearly 180 degrees from last season in the oh-so-brief postseason.

The bullpen started off well back in April when Yimi Garcia looked near unhittable and Chris Hatcher was at least decent. Then came a lot of trouble, though it appeared to gain some footing at the end of the season when Hatcher returned productive and Luis Avilan became effective against left-handed hitters.

The bullpen’s final numbers are mostly middle-of-the-road to tilting toward the lower end. Among baseball’s 30 teams in the 2015 regular season, the Dodgers’ bullpen ranked 19th in ERA (3.91), 14th in WHIP (1.28), 20th in batting average against (.249) and second in strikeouts per nine innings (9.96).

Yep, it absolutely needs improvement if the Dodgers are going to prove championship caliber. But rebuilding is not needed from the absolute bottom, either.

Indeed, in the postseason, it was not a self-destruction button to the Dodgers’ playoff hopes. Outside of Pedro Baez, the bullpen actually was the antithesis of the 2014 effort. Kenley Jansen, J.P. Howell, Hatcher, Garcia and Avilan did not give up a run in a combined 11 1/3 innings, surrendering only two hits. Baez and Alex Wood, normally a starter, were the only pitchers out of the bullpen to struggle.

Hey, it’s something. Maybe a start, or at least something to build on, which no one could say after last year’s postseason disaster.

Bullpens are the most volatile and unpredictable part of a baseball team. The Dodgers took a flier on Jim Johnson, and it did not work out. His Braves teammate Avilan, who came over in the same deal, did. And Johnson had been the Atlanta closer.

Undoubtedly more changes will arrive in the offseason. Certainly the Dodgers’ new front office has demonstrated it is not shy about saying goodbye to people. And, as usual, there will be no shortage of bullpen candidates available through free agency.

More changes are coming, but at least it’s not from the absolute bottom of baseball’s bullpens.