Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Reacts to Ferguson, Pitching Struggles for LA
Dave Roberts was ready to point the finger at a lot of players after Tuesday night's loss in Cincinnati, and rightfully so. Though, it's important to remind ourselves of the saying that when you point one finger there are three pointing back at you. Simply put, the Dodgers didn't play a good game on Tuesday. Sure the offense scored 8 runs, but they also only scored in two of nine innings.
That's leaving a little to be desired.
Where there's a lot left to be desired is in the bullpen which has a 4.77 collective ERA over 61 games, fifth worst in baseball. Caleb Ferguson is the guy that most stands out in Tuesday's walk off loss to the Reds. He's the guy that walked three, allowed a single, and hit a batter. But it wasn't just him. A run scored on Yency Almonte in the 6th. Another on Brusdar Graterol in the 7th.
Tuesday night's starting pitcher, Tony Gonsolin, wasn't much help either. He couldn't hold a 3-0 lead in the first and let a run score in the 5th inning, albeit unearned thanks to a Max Muncy error.
Put the totality of the game together and you have an upset manager after the game. Dave Roberts called out the sloppy play of the Dodgers, focusing on the night's game but he had a hint of frustration toward the entire season's worth of struggles.
"We scored eight runs, which is certainly a positive. To score three runs in the first inning and to go back and give away three in the bottom half, not good. And Tony threw so many pitches in that first inning -- he could only go five innings, and we were fortunate to get him through five innings. And so, what that does is that exposes you in the bullpen and then when you go to the bullpen... they got to be better. ... Tonight, Fergie was all over the place. The walks, the hit batter. It sped up on him, and it was very apparent tonight."
Doc said he felt Ferguson was affected by the umpire and the strike zone, adding that he "let it affect him" but that shouldn't be an excuse for the sloppy outing.
But again, this loss didn't come from just the 9th inning. It was a group effort from guys struggling most in the bullpen at the moment. And, really, all season long.
"They're not throwing the ball well," Roberts said. "There's walks in there. Like I said, there's hit batsman in there, there's no punch and then you're getting the walk. And so that's a bad combo and so you know, when you look down there and, you know, I can trust guys, but it comes with it's gotta work both ways. The talent's there, but they've got to do their part too and tonight was a night that we shouldn't have lost this game."
The team is in dire need of a boost in the bullpen. That was supposed to be a guy like Daniel Hudson but he's missed the season up to this point. The front office continues to add cast-offs, as the tweet above suggests. But they're finally just not cutting it. Maybe it's the shift restriction on defense that's affecting the pitching staff. Maybe the clock just struck midnight. But the Dodgers are a team in need of help.
Oh, and they're now in second place in the NL West.
