LOS ANGELES -- Every year, the Dodgers do their best to avoid buying in July. And just about every year, they end up having needs ahead of the Trade Deadline.
This year is no different.
"The prices are always crazy come the Deadline. That's why we did everything we could this offseason to not have to be in the position to buy," general manager Brandon Gomes said before Tuesday's 10-7 loss to the Twins. "We'll see how these next few days come out and what everything looks like, but as of now, our stance hasn't changed on needing to go out and get additional pieces."
With nine days to go until the Trade Deadline on July 31, the Dodgers' greatest need came into sharp relief when de facto closer Tanner Scott went on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. He became the Dodgers' fifth high-leverage reliever on the IL, joining Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips (Tommy John surgery).
Another reliever went down in the sixth inning of Tuesday's loss, when rookie right-hander Ben Casparius struggled to find the zone, walked in a run and grabbed at his right hamstring area after throwing his final pitch. He called for the trainer and exited the game.
Casparius said he's hopeful that it was only "unbearable" cramping in his lower leg and foot, but he's set for an MRI on Wednesday. While he hasn't been nearly as dominant as he was through the first two months of the season, another pitching injury would be quite the blow.
The Dodgers' bullpen leads the Majors in innings but ranks 24th with a 4.41 ERA. Upgrading the unit was already a realistic need for the defending World Series champions, but the recent injuries reinforced that it should be a priority.
“I think ‘intensifying’ it is probably a fair word," manager Dave Roberts said, "given the uncertainty of the leverage guys that we have and don’t have right now. But I do think that we’ve shown in the past, if there’s a trade that needs to be made for a high-leverage guy, we’ll do that."
Treinen should be activated from the 60-day IL before the Deadline, but the Dodgers could certainly stand to add another reliable right-hander whom they can deploy in the late innings.
"Getting somebody that can really take down right-hand hitters, I think, is something that everyone knows that we're looking at," Roberts said.
Another potential need is a bat. While the Dodgers have been more productive at the plate the past few games, they've combined for a .639 team OPS since Max Muncy went on the 10-day IL with a left knee bone bruise almost three weeks ago.
Muncy appears on track to return sooner than anticipated, and the Dodgers are also confident that some of their slumping hitters will regress toward their career mean. That includes Mookie Betts, who was moved up to the leadoff spot in an effort to help him turn his season around, and Freddie Freeman, who has been working to fix his swing.
"I think the talent level is really high. It just so happened a bunch of guys went into a funk at the same time," Gomes said. "We haven’t been playing very good baseball. We’re finding ways to lose and not executing in different facets of the game. Our guys are out there grinding. Sometimes that happens in a season. It happened last year as well."
Said Roberts: "With the guys that we have scuffling with the bat, those are essentially four or five trade pickups in itself. We're going to bet on the comeback, the performance of those guys."
Many of the bullpen arms the Dodgers have been relying on don't have the same track record of the team's position players, which is why they could benefit from stabilizing the group with proven big league talent. Because Scott is expected back this season, the team should be more likely to pursue rentals rather than controllable arms that come at a higher cost.
All the same, the Dodgers have confidence in the roster they've assembled.
"I would argue that if we stay somewhat healthy, that this group is better than it was last year," Gomes said. "Obviously, there's a long time between now and the stretch run, but right now I feel very good about the talent level of this pitching staff."