Dodgers' Suspect Bullpen Puts Them on the Brink Against Cardinals in NLDS

At this point, Don Mattingly has to pick his poison.

It is only partly a matter of the suspect decision-making. More so, it’s a matter of the Los Angeles Dodgers manager not having any trustworthy arms in the bullpen before closer Kenley Jansen.

And once again, the inability of the expensive Dodgers bullpen to get critical outs in the postseason has cost them a game, a loss that now has them on the brink of being eliminated from the National League Division Series by the St. Louis Cardinals after a 3-1 Game 3 defeat Monday night at Busch Stadium.

That home run by Kolten Wong in the video above leaves the Dodgers with a do-or-die Game 4 Tuesday afternoon, with none other than the ace of aces, Clayton Kershaw, taking the ball on three days’ rest. 

Going to Kershaw was a choice Mattingly made before Game 3. The one he made during it, to lift Hyun-Jin Ryu after a stellar six innings after not having pitched more than one inning in a month and replace him with seldom-used lefty Scott Elbert in the team’s most critical juncture of the season, ended up being more proof that the Dodgers can’t bridge the gap from starter to closer.

“It’s not about managing. It's about choices,” Tom Verducci said on the Fox Sports 1 game broadcast, “and Don Mattingly has no good choices right now to get to his closer.”

Ryu surrendered a Matt Carpenter home run but gave the Dodgers exactly what they asked of him, pitching six innings and allowing one run after shoulder inflammation sidelined him for nearly a month.

But once Ryu was done Mattingly showed virtually no trust in his bullpen, calling on Elbert, a left-hander who didn’t pitch in the majors in 2013, had a 5.85 ERA in 20 minor league innings this year and had only 4.1 innings in the majors this season.

Also, only one of his seven appearances came in anything resembling a high-leverage situation.

"

Scott Elbert had rarely pitched in meaningful situations coming into this game. His game log from this year: http://t.co/8qLnOdU8cg

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 7, 2014"

Elbert gave up a leadoff double to Yadier Molina, whom he inexplicably faced considering Molina's OPS was 100 points higher against lefties than righties this season. After that came Wong, who hit .315/.324/.466 against left-handers and .234/.285/.371 against right-handers. Elbert fed him a cookie of a slider and Wong demolished it for the game-winning homer.

"

"the old and familiar story this year, the inability of the #Dodgers bullpen to get the big outs." #VinScully

— Vin Scully (@VinScullyTweet) October 7, 2014"

The questions for Mattingly were immediately heavy and legitimate. Why allow a lefty to face Molina? Why let a lefty face Jon Jay, who sacrificed Molina to third, or Wong when both of those left-handed hitters fare better against southpaw pitching?

Why, even if you don’t like your other options, let someone with so little experience in high-leverage situations face this lineup with your season on the line? 

The quick answer, although maybe not a satisfactory one, is Mattingly can’t go to any of his relievers—Brian Wilson, Brandon League, J.P. Howell, no one—with any sort of confidence.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

“At this point, when we put [Elbert] on the roster he had been throwing the ball good,” Mattingly said in his postgame press conference. “He’s there to get lefties out. We knew the Cardinals were a team with some good left-handed hitters, and we wanted to be able to neutralize them.

“Obviously to this point we have not been able to.” 

That’s the truth.

The bullpen has allowed a game-changing home run in every game of this series. Pedro Baez gave up the game-deciding home run to Matt Holliday in Game 1.

In Game 2, Howell allowed a two-run homer to Carpenter in the eighth inning, which tied the game. That was also an odd decision by Mattingly to go to Howell since Zack Greinke seemed to be rolling through the Cardinals’ lineup through seven shutout innings.

Elbert in Game 3 put the Dodgers on the cusp of elimination, and now the bullpen has accumulated an 8.53 ERA and 2.21 WHIP in 6.1 playoff innings.

If the Dodgers lose this series, it will be the most disappointing season in franchise history when you consider the payroll and expectations.

They spent $35 million on relievers this year, and all it has gotten them is a dominant closer in Jansen who makes $4.3 million, peanuts when you consider he is the only arm in the bullpen the team can count on to get meaningful outs. In order to get to him, the Dodgers have to go through a minefield of other relievers.

"

Dodgers and Tigers spent more money than any other playoff teams. Neither one was able to buy a bullpen.

— Danny Knobler (@DannyKnobler) October 7, 2014"

As nearly every other team to win a game in this postseason has proven, a strong bullpen wins games in October. The Dodgers have not gotten what they’ve paid for from their bullpen, so now they have to get it from their starters—Kershaw on Tuesday and Greinke on Thursday, if the series gets that far.

“This has been a club that has bounced back anytime we’ve had trouble,” Mattingly said. “For us it’s a matter of winning one game with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.”

Regardless of the outcome of this postseason for this team, general manager Ned Colletti has to address the one part of the team he neglected to upgrade, the one that could cost the most talented roster in the majors a chance at a World Series.

Anthony Witrado covers Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report. He spent the previous three seasons as the national baseball columnist at Sporting News, and four years before that as the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.