This may very well be the case with every championship-winning team, but a close look at the Dodgers in the last two seasons reveals a great number of pitchers who made a massive impact during the regular season only to not feature in any capacity for them in the postseason. Instead of lamenting that aspect, it’s important to recognize the meaningful accomplishments of pitchers such as Ben Casparius, the subject of this season review, whose final numbers will hardly do justice to his impact at specific moments.
After a little over a handful of terrific innings in relief were enough to earn Casparius some postseason action in 2024, the right-handed reliever entered the 2025 campaign vying to move up the leverage ladder in the Dodger bullpen. Attempting that jump, Casparius’ early case could not have been more positive.
Joined by Jack Dreyer, Casparius’s terrific work in the first couple of months of the season, providing the rare and incredibly valuable ability to cover multiple innings, led to plenty of excitement about his role with the team. Through the fifth of June, Casparius had pitched 39 innings with a 2.54 ERA, secured seven holds, and the Dodgers were 16-4 in games he appeared in.
One of the key aspects of Casparius’ success early on was that he did a phenomenal job of keeping the ball in the park, allowing merely one home run in his first 24 appearances. That all turned sour quickly and in a way even a pessimistic prognostication couldn’t have foreseen. From early June through his first appearance in July, Casparius allowed a total of 20 earned runs and six long balls, one in at least four straight appearances.
A four-seam fastball that had induced a whiff rate above 50 percent in May, all of a sudden started getting battered by anyone who came up to the plate, and tweaks in his arsenal, throwing more cutters in the second half, certainly didn’t help.
While the home runs proved to be a temporary problem, Casparius never quite picked up that early pace, ending the year with a 4.64 ERA. The right-hander was basically out of consideration for any sort of role in what was an incredibly weakened bullpen. Even as opportunities rose with bullpen changes during the middle of the playoffs, his name was never called. This, however, doesn’t lessen the impact those innings had on an underwhelming regular season campaign that, if not for a great start, might’ve seen the Dodgers in deep trouble to retain that division title, or worse.
Due to his contract status, still only entering his second year of service time with the Dodgers in 2026, Casparius most likely features in the long-term plans of this team. The multi-inning reliever will get every opportunity in spring training to cement a spot in the bullpen with the flexibility he provides.
Stats: 46 games, 77.2 IP, 4.64 ERA, 71 Ks, 1.275 WHIP
Back on May 23rd, what would’ve been a perfect three-inning save with six strikeouts against the Mets ended up just a hold because Dave Roberts put Casparius in an inning too early, and Tanner Scott blew the save in the ninth. Still, the Dodgers hung around to win it in extras, and they owe that in large part to those masterful three innings of relief from Casparius against one of the more potent offenses in the National League.