Filling The Void, Part 2

Continuing in my investigation of player performance during Manny's absence I could write an introduction paragraph about how great the Dodgers pitching has been, or I could steal a single sentence from MSTI that echoes my thoughts in far less words. Hmmm? Sorry Mike...

The pitching staff, so maligned in the offseason, is statistically the best in baseball, leading MLB in batting average against and ERA, largely on the strength of the most strikeouts of any staff in the game.

Yeah, they've been damn good alright. How good? To the numbers we go. Again, BOLD indicates team best over the past 50 games. Small sample size warnings noted.

Chad Billingsley (11 starts)
71.21 IP, 1.39 WHIP, 8.59 K's/9, 4.42 BB/9, 5 HR allowed, 3.64 ERA, .254/ .342 average against
The ace and workhorse has been stable, but not far and away the best pitcher over the past 50 games. Still, he's the guy you're going to turn to in any situation. The .342 OBP against is just about league average, but frustrating to see for a pitcher who is is above average himself. Nothing wrong with 8.59 strikeouts per nine though.

Randy Wolf (11 starts)
65.2 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 5.94 K/9, 2.62 BB/9, 12 HR allowed, 3.84 ERA, .257/ .312 average against
My goodness that's a lot of home runs (1.65 per 9/IP). Despite the high long ball count he's been reliable and quite a surprise over the course of the season. He's dropped off in strikeouts per nine, but is below his typical ratio of walks per nine innings.

Clayton Kershaw (10 starts)
54.2 IP, 1.32 WHIP, 8.97 K/9, 5.98 BB/9, 1 HR allowed, 2.63 ERA, .193/ .324 average against
Kershaw hasn't been able to extend himself deep into the games this season, but has been pitching very well as of late. 0, 2, 0, and 0 runs allowed in last four starts. The high pitch count (18.38 per inning) continues to plague him and a could be a reason for the almost 6 walks per game he's issuing. The high strikeout count, and a .193 AVG against, proves he's got the stuff, but right now he's his own enemy.

Hiroki Kuroda (6 starts)
37.1 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 8.01 K/9, 1.45 BB/9, 4 HR allowed, 4.10 ERA, .229/ .260 average against
Another pitcher in the 8 K/9 category! Not only that, but how about a 1.45 BB/9 ratio to boot. Huroda has been hit hard as of late (8,7,4,8 hits) in his last four appearances, but I think the jury is still out until more starts can be made. Let's check back in September.

Jonathan Broxton
23.2 IP, .99 WHIP, 14.35 K/9, 3.49 BB/9, 1 HR allowed, 3.04 ERA, .165/ .245 average against
As if anything I say in this space will do Broxton justice. Let's just be thankful we didn't seriously go after Trevor Hoffman and move on.

Ronald Belisario
30.1 IP, 1.03 WHIP, 7.77 K/9, 3.29 BB/9, 0 HR allowed, 1.19 ERA, .185/ .267 average against, 1 possible DUI
Before the start of this season Belisario had never even pitched above AA. But that hasn't stopped him from being one of the bullpen standouts thus far. He hasn't sniffed an ERA below 3.00, well ever, but that hasn't stopped him from throwing up a 1.19 over the past fifty games. He owns the seventh/ eighth inning and has no doubt been valuable in helping the Dodgers amass a 17-8 record in 1 run games.

Guillermo Mota
24.1 IP, 1.04 WHIP, 5.97 K/9, 1.86 BB/9, 2 HR allowed, 1.96 ERA, .230/ .266 average against
You know things are going good when Guillermo Mota is posting numbers like those. One run since May 22 only helps the cause. High leverage situations or not he's been all business recently. Part of a manager's job is to place the player in a position to succeed, and it seems Torre has finally figured out the right time to call upon Mota.

Ramon Troncoso
32.2 IP, 1.52 WHIP, 6.14 K/9, 4.75 BB/9, 2 HR allowed, 2.48 ERA, .271/ .365 average against
Another gamer at Torre's disposal. He's mentally tough and doesn't often run into trouble. A valuable asset to the team.

Brent Leach
16.2 IP, .98 WHIP, 7.77 K/9, 3.88 BB/9, 1 HR allowed, 3.45 ERA, .164/ .270 average against
Surprise of the bullpen thus far? Possibly. After a tough second appearance on May 7th (2 earned runs in 0.0 innings) Leach has been almost un-hittable. Our resident lefty specialist rarely goes a full inning, but has been impressive each time out. Here is his game log in regards to hits since May 26th. 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0. A specialist indeed.

A quite impressive bunch. And that doesn't even factor in guys like Jeff Weaver, Eric Stults, Eric Milton, and Corey Wade who have been serviceable in certain spots. Despite scoring 3.57 runs per game in June, not to mention a lone run in yesterdays win, the Dodgers are able to remain competitive thanks in most part to their pitching, which figured to be a mess heading into the year. The return of Manny Ramirez should provide a boost to the offense, but let's not forget the real savior(s) of our season so far. Kudos to our starters, but a standing ovation to our bullpen.