Let’s count, because we do that a lot watching baseball. Numbers are everywhere. Whether you are a traditionalist or convinced WAR is the greatest number ever, this is for everyone.
Count with me now: Kenley Jansen, Brian Wilson, J.P. Howell, Paco Rodriguez, Brandon League, Chris Perez, Chris Withrow and Jamey Wright.
Backward or forward, that’s eight, right? Eight relievers all understandably planning on being part of the Dodgers’ 2014 bullpen.
And that’s not even counting bullpen candidates Javy Guerra, Scott Elbert, Onelki Garcia, Jose Dominguez and Yimi Garcia.
The trouble with eight is, there only figures to be seven spots available in the Dodgers bullpen. This means barring injury, one of those eight is not going to be on the team’s opening day roster.
And incredibly, the odd man out appears to be … Withrow?
Withrow was a hard-throwing semi-sensation in the second half last season (1.88 earned-run average, 35 strikeouts in his 28 2/3 innings) and it’s difficult to fathom they would actually open the season with the right-hander back at triple-A Albuquerque.