Story perspectives

Dodgers Bullpen Ground-Ball Rate Falls, Walks Double by 2025

6/8/2026

Summary

Dodgers Bullpen Declines

In 2023, the Dodgers bullpen posted a .480 ground-ball rate and walked 2.57 batters per nine innings, both better than league averages.
Its 2023 home-run-per-fly-ball rate was .072, 37 % lower than the league .115 average.
In 2025, the Dodgers bullpen’s ground-ball rate fell to .371, well below the league .430 average.
In 2025, the bullpen walked 4.19 batters per nine innings and posted a .123 home-run-per-fly-ball rate, above league .115.

Summary

Dodgers Relievers Exit

The four relievers—Graterol, González, Brasier and Ferguson—who anchored the 2023 ground-ball are absent from the 2026 roster.
Graterol missed 2024 after back surgery, removing his .644 ground-ball rate and 2.41 BB/9.
2024–2025 replacements lacked ground-ball specialty, dropping the bullpen’s rate below league average.
Dodgers used starters Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Trevor Treinen and Michael Kopech, while the bullpen’s strand rates stayed steady across 15 postseason games.

Summary

Dodgers Bullpen Improves

The Dodgers outscored opponents by 133 runs in 2026, yet they are 42-24, six wins short of a 48-18 Pythagorean expectation.
Xavier Alatorre of Brohtanis created BRO Bullpen Index to rate Dodger relievers against the 2023 benchmark in August.
In 2026 the bullpen’s ground-ball rate rose to .395, walk rate fell to 3.58 BB/9, below league averages, with acquisition seen as a step to reverse three seasons of decline.

History

Historical Context

After three straight World Series (1972-74), the 1975 Oakland Athletics turned to reliever Rollie Fingers as a dedicated closer, posting a league-leading 28 saves and a dominant bullpen, cementing the modern bullpen specialist model that later teams, such as the 2020s Dodgers, have tried to emulate and sparked league-wide adoption of set-up men and ninth-inning firemen.

1 of 4

Dodgers Bullpen Declines

In 2023, the Dodgers bullpen posted a .480 ground-ball rate and walked 2.57 batters per nine innings, both better than league averages.
Its 2023 home-run-per-fly-ball rate was .072, 37 % lower than the league .115 average.
In 2025, the Dodgers bullpen’s ground-ball rate fell to .371, well below the league .430 average.
In 2025, the bullpen walked 4.19 batters per nine innings and posted a .123 home-run-per-fly-ball rate, above league .115.

1 / 4