At this rate, it's going to be a long year with this bullpen

Matt Magill had everything going for him on Saturday night.  The emergency starter who arrived at Dodger Stadium all of a few hours before the game went 6 1/3 innings for four hits, two runs, two walks, and seven strikeouts.  He left in the seventh with a 3-2 lead and in line for a win.

Did he get that win?  Nope.  Thank you, bullpen.

Paco Rodriguez gave up a single to his only batter, Matt Guerrier was atrocious in giving up a couple of two-run homers, and the Brewers once again exposed that horrible bullpen in getting a 6-4 victory.

If you're a Dodger fan, you're both frustrated and not at all surprised by this.  Plus you're probably mad at Don Mattingly for pulling Magill in the first place.  I know Magill was over 100 pitches, but the last batter he faced was a strikeout of Jean Segura, then Rodriguez and Guerrier completely blew all that hard work.  That damn pitch count excuse... UGH.

Here are some interesting numbers for the bullpen this season:

ERA: 4.41 (24th)
WHIP: 1.39 (26th)
ER: 32 (10th highest)
BB: 31 (8th highest)

Plus, you can factor in they have 65 1/3 innings pitched, which is only 25th in the majors.  So it's not like numbers such as earned runs and walks are inflated because they pitch much more than other teams.  It's actually just the opposite.

It's hard to like much of anything about this group.  Kenley Jansen has a 1.50 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 12 innings, so he's been good.  Brandon League is 7-8 in saves, but his ERA is high at 4.50.  Ronald Belisario has a 3.09 ERA, but a high WHIP at 1.46.

Everybody else has been flat out horrendous.  Here are the ERAs for the rest of this crew: Paco Rodriguez (4.93), Matt Guerrier (5.40), J.P. Howell (5.40), Josh Wall (12.60).  Shawn Tolleson doesn't have an ERA, but he walked the only two batters he's faced.  So his WHIP is infinity!

Considering that Zack Greinke, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano, and Stephen Fife are all on the DL, this problem is magnified even more.  And Saturday night was the perfect example that even when a starter is effective and goes pretty deep into the game, the late innings are a huge advantage for the opposing team. 

You want another interesting stat?  Over the last seven days, the Dodgers are fourth in the majors (first the NL) in runs scored at 37.  Yes, seriously.  They've actually been pushing runs across the plate, but then guys like Guerrier and Rodriguez completely flush it down the toilet.  It's hard to watch.

At this point, the Dodgers have to be thinking about making some moves to improve this unit.  How much longer can they accept watching most of these guys stumble late in the game?  For a team with an astronomical payroll and expectations, patience has to be very thin.  And rightfully so.