Who’s the Dodgers’ closer?
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Who’s the Dodgers’ closer?
Manager Don Mattingly responded to the question with one of his own: “How do I know?”
Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Vicente Padilla and Kenley Jansen are on the disabled list.
Mattingly said that if his team has a ninth-inning lead, he is inclined to call on one of the pitchers recently promoted from the minors to close: Javy Guerra, Scott Elbert or Rubby De La Rosa.
Veterans Matt Guerrier and Mike MacDougal have been the Dodgers’ most consistent performers out of the bullpen, but Mattingly said he would like to continue using them in middle-relief roles. Mattingly pointed to how Guerrier and MacDougal have often entered games in the middle of innings with men on base and limited the damage.
“If one of our younger guys get in trouble, it’s nice to have a MacDougal or Guerrier right there to come in the middle of an inning and know where they’re at,” Mattingly said. “They know how to pitch in those situations.”
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-- Dylan Hernandez