25-year old righty reliever Javy Guerra has been a huge surprise for the Dodgers in 2011. He has pitched in 182 games (54 starts) in his 8 years in the minors and he is 27-25 with 27 saves, a 4.31 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. The Dodgers didn’t really plan on having Guerra pitch for them at any point in 2011. But, he has pitched in 41 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 2-0 with 18 saves, a 1.99 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has only given up 34 hits and 13 walks in his first 40 2/3 innings in the majors with 35 whiffs so far this year. Guerra has really stepped up for the Dodgers, working as the closer as they had a lot of problems with injuries in the pen this year.

23-year old righty reliever Kenley Jansen has been on fire since June 18th for the Dodgers. He has pitched in 20 games (0 starts) since June 18th and he is 1-0 with 2 saves, a 0.40 ERA and a 0.66 WHIP. Jansen has only given up 5 hits in his last 22 2/3 innings for the Dodgers while whiffing 38 batters as he has been awesome. He has now pitched in 40 games (0 starts) overall this year for the Dodgers and he is 2-1 with 3 saves, a 3.30 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Jansen has come a long way since converting from being a catcher to a relief pitcher in the minors. The results have been spectacular so far. He has pitched in 65 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Dodgers and he is 3-1 with 7 saves, a 2.29 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Jansen is probably going to be the Dodgers’ closer in the very near future.

23-year old lefty starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw has tightened up his control this year and it has transformed him into one of the very best pitchers in all of baseball. He will likely be one of the top vote getters for the Cy Young Award in 2011. Kershaw has pitched in 29 games (all starts) for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 17-5 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He has given up 160 hits in his first 205 2/3 innings this year for the Dodgers while whiffing 222 batters and only walking 50…..which is downright awesome! Kershaw has now pitched in 114 games (112 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 43-28 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The best is yet to come for Clayton Kershaw.

21-year old righty starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi came into this season as the Dodgers’ #17 prospect according to Baseball America and he’s showing why so far in the majors. He has pitched in 4 games (all starts) for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 2.05 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He has only given up 16 hits in his first 22 innings pitched, but he has also walked 10 batters so far and that’s way too many. This is Eovaldi’s big chance to cement a spot in the rotation for 2012, if he can finish the season strongly.

25-year old lefty reliever Scott Elbert is finally rewarding the Dodgers’ faith in him this season. Elbert has pitched in 28 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 0-1 with 2 saves, a 3.15 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He has given up only 14 hits in his first 20 innings this year and he has 21 whiffs. Elbert has now pitched in 58 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Dodgers and he is 2-2 with 2 saves, a 5.24 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. The Dodgers hope Elbert keeps up the good work because they have invested a lot in time and money on him.