Dare I say the Dodgers' bullpen is putting it all together?

If the past week is any indication, then the answer is an emphatic "YES."

After Brett Anderson dazzled with 10 strikeouts in seven innings of one-run ball, Adam Liberatore and the returning Pedro Baez each struck out the side in the last two innings, and the Dodgers cruised to a 7-1 win in Miami.  It helped that the Marlins looked completely incompetent at times, and that their big superstar Giancarlo Stanton broke a bone in his left hand during the game.  But the Dodgers looked really good nonetheless.

We all know the book on beating the Dodgers: get their starter out of there early enough to attack their middle relief.  If you can't do that, then forget about it, because Kenley Jansen is as good as it gets at the end of the game.  For much of the season, the Dodgers looked helpless at times in getting the ball to Jansen.

Maybe that's finally turning around, as over the last seven days, the bullpen has been nearly flawless.  Yimi Garcia, J.P. Howell, Matt West, Juan Nicasio, and Jansen have all pitched at least a couple of innings without being scored on.  Baez made his return on Friday and was perfect, blowing away the three Marlins he faced.

Liberatore has bounced back from a rough start in June to lower his ERA to 2.82.  Joel Peralta is also back, and has two straight scoreless appearances.

Add it all up, and for the first time in quite awhile, the Dodgers have to be feeling good about their options in innings 6-8.  There's been so many moving parts this year that it's hard to pinpoint the exact roles for each, but here's what I would do if I'm Don Mattingly:

6th - 8th Innings: Garcia, Howell, Nicasio
8th Inning: Liberatore, Peralta, Baez
9th Inning: Jansen (duh)

I'll leave Liberatore in the late-inning role right now only for matchups.  Peralta was brought in to be that setup guy, but as long as Baez throws that hard and effectively as he showed Friday night, he deserves some chances as well. 

Nicasio was never meant to be playing such a big role, but much to his credit, he's been fantastic with a 1.78 ERA.  I think he'd be good as a bridge in the earlier innings to the setup and closer.  That can easily change if the other guys flop.

The bullpen has been maligned at various points this year, but if you're looking at the bottom line, it's that they're third in the NL in ERA (2.96) and K's (236), and second in BAA (.219).  That's pretty darn good. 

With healthier arms now, those numbers could get even better soon.

Despite trying virtually everything, middle relief is still a huge problem

Picture this scenario: Eighth inning, Dodgers beating the Cardinals 2-1, Adam Liberatore staying in the game after getting the last out of the seventh.

Do you have confidence that the Dodgers will hold on to win?

I certainly didn't, and guess what?  They sure as hell couldn't do it.

Alas, it's another frustrating end of the game, as the Cardinals scored three times, and the Dodgers had zero answers in dropping the finale of the four-game set 4-2.  Good thing Clayton Kershaw was masterful on Saturday, because the Dodgers lost all three of the other games.

We all know how lousy the offense has been, as they scored a grand total of six runs in the four games, and that was without facing the great Adam Wainwright, who's done for the season.  Hell, the Cardinals scored seven runs on Thursday, which has been practically unheard of for this damn team.

Rather, let's focus on the middle relief.  That is, the horrendous arms that are trying to bridge the gap to Kenley Jansen, and failing miserably.

Sunday night it was up to Liberatore and Juan Nicasio.  That's how desperate the Dodgers are - relying on a guy who wasn't with the club to begin the year, and another who was supposed to be there for long relief.  Liberatore did get Kolten Wong swinging to end the seventh, and should've been pulled right after.

Instead, Don Mattingly stuck with him to pitch to Matt Carpenter to start the eighth.  It didn't work, as a walk later, Nicasio came in.  To his credit, he did have a 1.48 ERA coming into this appearance.  But don't be fooled - those weren't against the Cardinals in the eighth inning of a one-run game.  This was a whole different animal in which he failed miserably.

To sum it up quickly, Matt Holliday ripped an RBI triple to tie it, Jhonny Peralta an RBI single to take the lead, and Mark Reynolds a deep RBI double to get some cushion.  Yimi Garcia got a double play to end the inning, but was lucky since it was a liner to short that Jimmy Rollins caught and doubled Reynolds off of second.

By the way, Nicasio's ERA shot up to 2.19 based off that one appearance alone.

I, along with many others, am kind of at a loss on what exactly the Dodgers can do.  They've tried everything under the sun the last couple of years.  The former closers (Brian Wilson, Brandon League, Chris Perez) and young arms (Garcia, Liberatore, Chris Hatcher) and it's just not working.  I'll give them this, at least they've tried a bunch of different options.

Right now, the Dodgers will probably just have to accept the fact that this is truly a trial-and-error process until somebody, ANYBODY, steps up and can pair himself with Jansen.  With Joel Peralta and Pedro Baez still out, then I wouldn't be opposed to giving flame throwing Josh Ravin a chance for holds.  He's only pitched 2 1/3 innings, but with two strikeouts and no walks.  Better than watching Hatcher screw things up, right?

From what I can tell, Baez could be back soon.  That would great news, and I'd immediately give him the ball in the eighth as well and see what happens.

As for J.P. Howell, who has an 0.63 ERA in 21 appearances, I wouldn't consider him as a major option in the eighth.  Perhaps sometimes he could, but he throws so soft, and with a 1.40 WHIP, I wouldn't totally trust him to be the guy.  He's better off earlier in the game for hitters here and there.

Maybe Andrew Friedman has a move or two up his sleeve, and we're about to find out.  Then again, maybe not, and the Dodgers are stuck with who they've got.  Which, um... isn't much.  But until this thing gets figured out, the awful middle relief will continue to hold them back from becoming a serious threat to come out of the National League.

Again.

Let's hope Kenley is OK. As for the rest of the bullpen...

Boy, do they flat out stink lately.

And that's being nice.

The latest example of a reliever melting down is Adam Liberatore.  Actually, it's Yimi Garcia.  No wait, it's J.P. Howell.  On second thought, it's Chris Hatcher.

What do they all have in common?  They all had a hand in blowing a 6-4, ninth inning lead to the Rockies on Wednesday, which soon lead to a painful 7-6 defeat in Colorado.

Painful, embarrassing... call it what you want.  I'll call it pathetic, too.

One night after a thrilling comeback victory, highlighted by Alex Guerrero's go-ahead grand slam in the ninth, the Dodgers took one step back thanks to their shaky 'pen.  Liberatore was perfect in the eighth, so with Kenley Jansen mysteriously unavailable, he started the ninth.  A single and a ground rule double later, he was out of there.

Garcia wasn't any better, issuing two straight walks, one of which brought in a run to make it 6-5.  Out he went, and in came Howell, who threw a low pitch that wasn't handled well by Yasmani Grandal for the passed ball, tying the game.

After an intentional walk to load the bases again, Hatcher gave up the walk-off sacrifice fly to Nolan Arenado, and that was that.

Simply put, the Dodgers just don't have a whole lot of options to rely on late in the game, save for Jansen of course.  Liberatore has given up runs in two straight games.  Garcia has fallen apart, allowing multiple baserunners in three straight appearances.  If Hatcher even records an out it's considered an accomplishment.

Paco Rodriguez, Pedro Baez, and Joel Peralta are all hurt.  About the only worthwhile guys are Howell and Juan Nicasio.  Josh Ravin has looked really good in both of his appearances, but it's still way too early to tell if he's an answer.

It's hard to know where the Dodgers go from here.  They've signed veterans with good track records to big contracts, and it's blown up in their faces (Matt Guerrier, Brian Wilson, Chris Perez, Brandon League).  Now they're trying youth and power, and it's starting to come apart.

Right now, the Dodgers have the fourth best bullpen ERA in the National League at 3.09, but don't be fooled.  That's mostly from the start of the season when they didn't even need Jansen to look untouchable.  Now Jansen is back, looking fantastic, and they either can't get the ball to him, or he's suddenly unavailable for unknown reasons.

The Dodgers won the NL West last year with a struggling 'pen, and they were exposed by the Cardinals in the NLDS.  This year, they shouldn't even count on getting that far, as you know the Giants won't be going anywhere, and if the Padres start playing up to their potential, they'll be there as well.

So like the title says, we can only hope Jansen's disappearing act was only for a night or two, and nothing more.  But Jansen or not, the rest of the bullpen has got to step up and deliver.  All of those innings in middle relief has got to be pitched by someone.  And hopefully pitched well.