Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
In the middle of July, I ripped the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen apart with my slideshow of the five worst Dodgers relievers of the first half. Former closer Javy Guerra landed himself at the top spot on that list, but he still might be back in the bigs with the Dodgers this season.
At the time, Guerra had been sent down to the minors after pitching 10.2 innings for the Dodgers. In that span, the 27-year-old righty amassed an ERA of 6.75 and a WHIP that almost reached 2.00. With that kind of performance, it is no surprise the Dodgers sent Guerra to the minors on May 30.
Since heading to play for the Albuquerque Isotopes, Guerra has settled down and reestablished himself as the Topes’ closer. With eight saves in only 13 relief appearances, he has a very respectable ERA of 2.18.
However, this statistic is mildly misleading as Guerra has made four starts for the Topes. Each of those starts has only been a short outing and should not be considered in his specific performance as a reliever. If you only look at Guerra’s games in which he came on to relieve, he has an outstanding 0.63 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched.
In his last 10 appearances (which were all in relief), Guerra has seven saves, 10 innings pitched, seven strikeouts and zero runs allowed. This is the Guerra of old that the Dodgers fell in love with. If he can keep up the solid play, Guerra might just find himself being called back up to the majors again, especially if the Dodgers continue to be plagued by injuries.
Dodgers fans have legitimate fears that Guerra could return to his early 2013 form, but should be hopeful that he can continue to rebound and be a bullpen asset again.
Isaac Comelli is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @IsaacComelli, “Like” him on Facebook or follow him on Google+.
