Relief Pitchers

The Dodgers have assembled quite a list of pitchers as Non-Roster Invitees to Spring Training. It all adds up to over 1000 games pitched in the majors in the hopes that one or two will stand out enough to make the Dodgers staff. All of these invitations were extended in the hopes that it would help to solve their middle relief woes that they suffered through last year.

This list is kind of like a who's who of former starters, career relievers, veterans and younger pitchers, all hoping to revive their careers with the Dodgers or make an impression enough on someone to land a Major League job with another team.

The list looks like this (so far):
RHP David Aardsma- 33 years old, he appeared in no games in 2014 but saved 69-78 games with the Seattle Mariners in 2009-10.

RHP Mike Adams- 36 years old, 408 games in relief, all as a middle reliever or set up man, most of his success came with the San Diego Padres from 2006-09. Pitched in 22 games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2014.

LHP Erik Bedard- 36 years old, former starter with several teams, 230-241 career games as a starter. Started the Spring opener, pitched 2 innings and gave up one earned run.

RHP Chad Gaudin- No games in 2014, 344 games and 87 career starts.

LHP David Huff- 30 years old, 115 games, 54 starts, career ERA of over 5.

RHP Sergio Santos- 31 years old, 180 games all in relief. In 2011 with the Chicago White Sox, 30-36 in Saves.

RHP Dustin McGowan- 158 games, 68 career starts.

The Dodgers are hoping this group can compete with the holdovers, rookies, and trades to round out a staff of what is potentially a very good starting five. Closer Kenley Jansen is out for at least the first month so the Dodgers other relief pitchers are going to be key to if they get a good start to the season or not.

The Dodgers relievers did not fair well in the Spring Training Opener against the White Sox, giving up 5 runs in 7 innings of relief. Juan Nicasio and Carlos Frias were the most generous of the relief pitchers that were used in that game.