And now, the Dodgers’ latest version of Mike Bolsinger -- Mr. Dependable

And now for Mike Bolsinger’s latest self-invention -- dependability!

Who’d have thunk it?

Not the Diamondbacks, certainly. Not most of baseball, probably. Not even the Dodgers, honestly.

Bolsinger has gone from near anonymous pick-up, to the spot starter of the week, to rotation regular, to -- perhaps most unexpectedly of all -- a dependable member of the rotation.

Bolsinger has made seven starts for the Dodgers, and pitched at least into the sixth inning in all but one of them. He is 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA. This after he held Arizona scoreless through five innings Monday, ultimately going seven innings and allowing two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts.

“At this point, it seems to be the same outing every time,” said Manager Don Mattingly. “He’s keeping us in every game. Continues to spin it, change speeds with the breaking ball, threw more strikes with the fastball.

“You consistently feel like you’re going to get a good outing when he pitches.”

Bolsinger, 27, is not your prototypical major league pitcher. Once again, he did not throw one of his 94 pitches Monday at even 90 mph. But he displayed remarkable control, used different speeds on his curveball and threw enough 85-89 mph fastballs with movement to keep the Diamondbacks off balance.

Which looks nothing like the pitcher who went 1-6 with a 5.50 ERA for the Diamondbacks last season.

“If I look at video from last year and this year, it’s completely different,” Bolsinger said. “Not only mentally having that feel for all your pitches, but mechanically.”

Bolsinger credits pitching coach Rick Honeycutt with making some changes to his delivery, and the Dodgers for showing continued confidence in him. He said Honeycutt continues to tweak his mechanics.

“I mean, there’s stuff we worked on three days ago,” he said. “I even threw a short little bullpen [Sunday], just trying to apply it. And it went well today. I was really pleased with everything. Everything seemed really smooth.

“When you watch [Zack] Greinke pitch, you see how smooth he is when he’s out there throwing a baseball. I really want to look like that, his mechanics and everything. It’s fun to watch.”

Right now, the guy the Diamondbacks gave up on, designated for assignment and then sold to the Dodgers for an undisclosed modest sum has found an unexpected home in the rotation.

“Honestly, I think there’s another level in there,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep working hard.”

Pretty sure the Dodgers would be more than thrilled to keep Bolsinger at his current level. Dependability can go a long way in a 162-game season.

Follow Steve Dilbeck on Twitter @SteveDilbeck