Dodgers Address Caleb Ferguson Situation Following Loss

Dodgers reliever Caleb Ferguson earned his second straight loss on Friday night, serving up a walk-off home run to Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber. It's the latest blip in a frustrating stretch for the veteran left-hander who has allowed runs in four of his last five appearances, raising his ERA from 0.98 to 3.68.

After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts addressed the Ferguson situation, first focusing on the outcome of last night's game.

“He’s frustrated. You never want to get walked off. But that potential comes with pitching late in games. I liked the way he threw the baseball tonight. One pitch he’d like to have back but at times you gotta give the hitter credit. Kyle put a good swing on it.”

It was much more positive than the last time Doc spoke to reporters about Ferguson. Earlier in the week, Roberts was frustrated by the reliever's demeanor on the mound, questioning whether he was earning pitching in key situations late in games.

"We had a little chat [after Friday night's loss]. But it was more of very positive and appreciating that the ultimate results on both those outings were similar but how he went about it was completely different. So I just assured him that's what I'm looking for. ... We need him."

Dave expanded on the differences between the two outings.

"I was pretty upset with the way he handled it the other night in that save situation as far as how he carried himself. I used the phrase ‘sped up on him.’ That bothers me,” Roberts said. “[Friday], that wasn’t the case. For me, for guys that you can trust in leverage, they’ve got to kind of go about things the right way as far as how they carry themselves on the mound – the poise, the demeanor and be able to weather crowd noise, a missed call, whatever it might be."

The Dodgers will continue to lean on Ferguson while the bullpen tries to find its footing. Currently, LA relievers have a combined 4.74 ERA, fourth worst in baseball. For the most part, Ferguson had been one of the bright spots in the struggling bullpen but this recent stretch has coincided with all around issues for the pitching staff.

Things don't stand to get much better with a bullpen game on the horizon for Dave Roberts and the Dodgers on Sunday after it was revealed that Julio Urias would not be available to come off the injured list in time to start that game.