Welcome to the Blue, Ryan Madson!

Will this be the move that saves our bullpen?

As you know, earlier this week the Dodgers claimed Nationals reliever Ryan  "Mad Dog" Madson and had until today to work out a trade. That trade has now been completed, via a tweet by Ken Rosenthal, The player we sent to DC is minor league righty Andrew Istler. Per a Dodger press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired right-handed pitcher Ryan Madson (#50) in a trade with the Washington Nationals in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Andrew Istler.  

Madson, 38, has made 49 relief appearances with Washington this year, going 2-5 with four saves and a 5.28 ERA (26 ER/44.1 IP). The Long Beach native has been a member of two World Series championship clubs (2008 & 2015) in 13 Major League seasons with the Phillies (2003-2011), Royals (2015), A’s (2016-2017) and Nationals (2017-2018), posting a 61-48 record with 91 saves and a 3.45 ERA in 731 games (18 starts).

As you can see, Madson has not been good this year, but he's an experienced pro with two rings under his belt. Additionally, he has been successful in the past as a closer -- having recorded 91 career saves. Probably the most important stats are his numbers during the postseason. Overall, in 46 games he has a 4-1 record with an 2.85 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 47.1 innings and has issued just 15 walks. Hopefully, he can bring some of that magic to the Dodgers stretch run and hopefully playoffs.

Per Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest; "Dodgers acquire reliever Ryan Madson in hopes of bolstering beleaguered bullpen."

Madson, coming off a 1.83 ERA/1.99 FIP season in 2017, regressed mightily in 2018. He owns a 5.28 ERA, 4.35 FIP and has been worse than replacement level (-0.1 fWAR). That doesn’t mean we can’t like some things about this trade.

First, he’s still throwing hard. He’s averaging 95.8 MPH on his fastball, which he throws almost 65 percent of the time. Second, he has a near-elite whiff rate on his changeup, so it wouldn’t be crazy to think the usage (currently at 19.1 percent) could increase. He also just came back from the disabled list after getting over lumbar irritation. So, perhaps some of his struggles could be chalked up to (in part) that.

BTW, to make room for Madson on the 40-man roster, reliever Adam Liberatore has been DFA'd. Also, you can follow Ryan on Twitter, but he isn't very active there: RyanMadson46.

Featured above are two fantasy baseball cards I created celebrating Madson's addition to the club.

* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *

* Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook *

* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *