'It better be rock bottom': Dodgers' bullpen woes on full display - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Edgardo Henriquez approached a slow chopper in Tuesday's seventh inning, bobbled it initially, then threw so wide of first base that the baseball rolled all the way to the right-field fence.

All three Minnesota Twins baserunners scored. Boos rained down once again from Dodger Stadium's bleachers. The Dodgers' bullpen had completed yet another implosion, allowing six runs over the course of two innings to hand the team a 10-7 loss, its 11th in 14 games.

The Dodgers have long been expected to target bullpen help ahead of the trade deadline, which is now eight days away, but the urgency has only ratcheted up over the last week.

Rock bottom, it seems, has arrived.

«It better be rock bottom,» Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, «as far as how we've been pitching, how we've been playing defense.»

The Dodgers placed their most expensive reliever, Tanner Scott, on the injured list earlier Tuesday with what the team initially called elbow inflammation. An MRI confirmed that diagnosis, Scott said after the game, adding that his ulnar collateral ligament is intact. His timeline is uncertain, but Scott expressed confidence he will return to the bullpen at some point this season.

At the moment, though, he is among a daunting list of high-leverage Dodgers relievers who are unavailable, joining Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips, the latter of whom has undergone season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Another might join them.

Ben Casparius exited another rough outing with a cramp in his right calf Tuesday night and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday morning. Before exiting, Casparius — a godsend in April and May, a scourge in June and July — allowed three walks and a double to the four batters he