Dave Roberts Keeping Trust While Alex Vesia ‘A Little Bit Off’

Alex Vesia has been one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top relievers all season, but recently he’s fallen into a rough stretch of games at a time when the bullpen needs to collectively improve.

Vesia allowed a run in four consecutive appearances in August, with two resulting in the left-hander taking a loss and another being a blown save. In an outing against the San Diego Padres, Vesia hit two batters and allowed a run that that cut the Dodgers’ lead to just one before he came out of the game.

Despite the struggles Vesia has had recently, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is confident in the reliever to turn things around and feels this is a small blip on his overall strong season.

“With Alex, I think it’s just a little bit off,” Roberts recently said. “Obviously the uncharacteristic hit batsmen [Friday]. But I think that it’s one of those things, and I talked to him, that it’s kind of the ebb and flows of baseball. He was on this heater where nothing went wrong and didn’t give up a run, and right now he’s in it.

“And whether it’s our offense that struggles at times, or the starting pitching or the ‘pen, or him individually, it’s part of it. So I think for me, I love the way that he managed that inning, given how it started, and we get the sacrifice bunt, and then he gives up one run instead of three or four. So I think that for me, is growth.

“And then to be able to hand it to Blake (Treinen) to then put an end to that inning. So I’m not too concerned about Alex. He’s healthy, he feels good, and I trust him.”

Even with the poor stretch, Vesia still has a 2.81 ERA in 41.1 innings this year. He’s also struck out just shy of 12 hitters per nine innings while walking roughly three per nine.

Prior to the All-Star break, Vesia had a 2.50 ERA in 46 appearances, allowing just 11 runs in 39.2 innings. That was not an outlier, as he holds a career 2.89 ERA in 264.1 innings.

The 29-year-old was also one of the Dodgers’ top relievers last season as he posted a 1.76 ERA in 66.1 innings.

Confidence in Alex Vesia

Roberts choosing to stick with Vesia paid off on Sunday as he pitched five innings to help the Dodgers sweep the Padres. The initial plan was just to record two outs in the eighth inning, but Vesia demanded that he remain in the game if the Dodgers took the lead.

“It’s one of those moments where you’ve got to just trust your player, and I trusted him,” Roberts said.