Adam Liberatore

2017 was essentially a lost season for Liberatore, who pitched just 17 innings between the majors and minors due to a pair of injuries. He opened the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City and spent most of April on the farm, aside from a one-game stint with the Dodgers at the end of the month in which he allowed a run in one-third of an inning. He saw another promotion at the beginning of May, but appeared in just one game before landing on the disabled list for two weeks with a left groin strain. The southpaw tossed a pair of scoreless innings following his return, but left forearm tightness sent him right back to the DL and subsequently ended his season in September after he showed little improvement while on a rehab assignment. He's proven he can be an effective bullpen arm when healthy, making 29 consecutive scoreless appearances and compiling a 0.61 ERA in the first half of 2016, but he'll need to shake the injury bug to make an impact for the Dodgers in 2018.

Liberatore seemed headed toward a breakout season when he set the Dodgers' franchise record for consecutive scoreless appearances with 28, holding an ERA as low as 0.55 in late July. That breakout was derailed in August, when the southpaw hit the DL with elbow inflammation. He never seemed the same when he came back, allowing 10 earned runs in 9.1 post-DL innings and unable to find the pitch mix that earned him the team's left-handed setup role earlier in the season. Liberatore's arsenal is based around a low-90s four-seamer with a slider and changeup mixed in as secondary offerings depending on the handedness of the batter. Even with the injury struggles, Liberatore still held left-handed batters to a .494 OPS in 2016, so he should have a place in the bullpen for 2017 as a lefty specialist at worst. If he is able to recapture his first-half success from 2016, he should be able to slide right back into a late-inning role.

Liberatore made his big league debut at age 27 with the Dodgers this year, ultimately bouncing between Los Angeles and Triple-A Oklahoma City for most of the season. Overall, Liberatore logged 29.2 innings of 4.25 ERA ball in Los Angeles, including a 1.18 WHIP and solid ratios (8.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9). After seeing Liberatore post a 1.74 ERA, 11.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 2014 for Triple-A Durham in the Rays organization, the Dodgers were probably hoping for a bit more. Liberatore throws hard (93.8 mph average fastball) and he held left-handed hitters to a .220 batting average against in 2015, so there's a chance he's more than a lefty specialist. He will likely come to camp in a competition with several guys for one or two middle relief slots. Liberatore has shown he has the ability to pitch in the late innings, so perhaps he can move up in the pecking order at some point in 2016.