Tolleson was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Monday and Josh Wall was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque.
Tolleson came in and promptly walked two batters, both of which allowed runs to score -- and both charged to Clayton Kershaw.
It's not an easy situation to be thrown into, that's for sure. But as a reliever, walking the runs in is about the worst that can be done.
At least the Dodgers replaced him with a guy who brings it. Wall has a nasty fastball-slider combination that, unfortunately, he has trouble controlling at times.
With the Dodgers' deep bullpen, Wall shouldn't be thrust into too many high-leverage situations. If he is, then something has gone terrible wrong.
Hopefully Tolleson can show why he was once a Top 10 prospect in the system (by most accounts). Tolleson has exhibited pretty good control in the minors (2.1 BB/9 in 125 2/3 innings), but hasn't done been able to match it in the majors (5.3 BB/9 in 37 2/3 innings).
A little self back-patting here: Zach Lee is off to a fantastic start this season. My No. 1 Dodger prospect heading into the season, Lee has a 1.06 ERA, given up just two earned runs and 24 baserunners in 23 innings.
Lee is using a nice four-pitch mix, including a newly incorporated two-seam fastball. Lee has a 2.18 groundout-to-flyout rate this season, easily the best of his young career. That's important for him because one criticism of Lee is he lacks a true out pitch.
Lee is never going to be a strikeout-per-inning guy, but he can find a way to get a strikeout when he needs it (7.7 K/9 in his career).
So much was made of his $5.25 million signing bonus and the expectations that came along with it. The fact is, Lee is not the next Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke. He might not even be the next Chad Billingsley. But if he's anything close, he'll have a long and prosperous Major League career.
Photo credits
Tolleson (illustration): Epic Memories by Ron, Flickr
Lee: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue
why won;t the dodgers call up zach lee to the big team now.
ReplyDelete