Troncoso: "I'll Have What Mota's Having"

They say you only get one chance to make a good first impression. Certainly Ramon Troncoso accomplished that with Dodger fans by posting the following stats from the beginning of the season until mid July...

4/10 - 7/20
59.1 IP, 1.67 ERA, 1.71 K:BB, 1.201 WHIP, .594 OPS against

Strikeout to base on balls ratio notwithstanding, those are some pretty dominating numbers. However, just like Guillermo Mota, Troncoso has been struggling of late.

7/24- 8/12
7.0 IP, 11.57 ERA, 1.33 K:BB, 2.571 WHIP, 1.118 OPS against

His ERA has ballooned, his K:BB ratio has fallen, and his WHIP and OPS against have doubled. Not a good sign heading into the concluding months of the season.

As recently as mid July the Dodger bullpen was phenomenal. It still ranks very high; however, the foundation has begun to show signs of cracking, further highlighted by the uncertainty of Jonathan Broxton. Hopefully, for a team so reliant upon their bullpen, the recent reliever struggles are just a rough patch in the road.

Photo courtesy Jonathan Moore