Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Assesses Pitching Staff Over the First Half of the Season

It's been a rocky season for the Dodgers' pitching staff -- as the part of the team that normally has been the crown jewel of the franchise has definitely not lived up to expectations.

Whether it's through injuries or just flat out bad performances, LA's staff hasn't been the usual lockdown unit, ranking 22nd in MLB with a 4.49 ERA as of Saturday morning. For comparison, the Dodgers had the best ERA in the sport last year with a 2.80 mark.

That said, things are improving for the team as rookies Emmet Sheehan and Bobby Miller have put up largely solid performances on the mound and Julio Urias returned from a nagging hamstring injury.

And Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is encouraged with where things are going, as he told the media before his team played the Los Angeles Angels in game one of the Freeway Series.

"On the mound it's been certainly sort of piecing things together. It's been fun. Exciting to see some young players have opportunities, getting some experience. I think that looking out I feel really confident in the sense that Emmet, Bobby, Michael, some other guys get some more experience. Getting Julio back. Expecting Clayton at some point get played back at some point.

The bullpen, I think we've come to a good spot in a sense of settling in and rolls and pitching performance. Obviously, losing Huddy just recently put somewhat of a damper on some things but I think overall excited to get to the break, but I think we're trending in the right way."

For what it's worth, the Dodgers staff came up big on Friday night in their 11-4 win as Tony Gonsolin had his longest outing of the season with 6 2/3 innings, and the bullpen collectively shut the door as they put up a scoreless effort.

It hasn't been completely smooth this year, but the Dodgers at long last seem to be finding they're rhythm as they approach the All-Star break.

LA's just a half game out of first place in the division, cutting the deficit from as large as four games in the past month.