Alex Vesia endured an up-and-down regular season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, taking a step back from his success in previous years.
The 27-year-old was on the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster for 2023, but after posting a 7.84 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 2.81 WHIP and .434 batting average allowed through his first 13 games (10.1 innings), the Dodgers optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Vesia was in need of a reset, but at the same time, manager Dave Roberts maintained his confidence in the left-hander.
Vesia was recalled a little more than three weeks later. The stay in Triple-A was highly beneficial as Vesia went on to log a 3.43 ERA, 1.02 WHIP with a .200 batting average allowed over his final 39.1 innings with the Dodgers.
His 2.52 walks per nine innings after May 30 ranked as his best stretch during his four-year career in Majors. Because Vesia started out with such a bad statistical open to the 2023 season, his overall numbers were much worse than his production proved to be.
Vesia took one more short strip to the Minors once again for five days in late June due to a roster crunch.
After being called up once again, Vesia entrenched himself as a solid option out of the Dodgers bullpen with plus-matchups against left-handed hitters. After his return, Vesia held lefties to a .215/.261/.323 batting line with a 2.55 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 2.69 FIP.
Alex Vesia 2023 highlight
Vesia’s fresh start from the end of May through the end of the season was strong, but his top outing in terms of win probability added (WPA) came on September 19 against the Detroit Tigers. He entered the ninth inning in a tie game, sitting Kerry Carpenter, Andre Lipcius and Tyler Nevin down in order.
His outing allowed the Dodgers to win in walk-off fashion in the bottom half of the ninth, securing a 3-2 victory.
2024 outlook
From 2021-2022, Vesia posted a 2.19 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 1.06 WHIP with a .160 batting average allowed, which is why his early hiccups were out of the norm. However, inconsistency is something Vesia has dealt with often throughout his career.
Vesia and the Dodgers agreed to a contract for the 2024 season after settling on a $1 million deal to avoid arbitration. He’ll have another opportunity to remain a concrete piece to the bullpen and a plus-arm against left-handed hitters.
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