The Los Angeles Dodgers have spent much of the 2026 season battling injuries across their pitching staff, but somehow, the bullpen has turned into one of the most dominant units in baseball.
Dodgers Bullpen Nearing MLB History Amid Dominant Scoreless Streak
After Saturday night’s 11-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Dodgers bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 36 consecutive innings, continuing what has become one of the biggest stories of the club’s recent surge.
For a team that entered the season with massive expectations, the bullpen’s emergence has stabilized nearly everything.
From Question Mark to Major Strength
Not long ago, relief pitching looked like a potential weakness for Los Angeles. Injuries and inconsistency forced the Dodgers to shuffle arms in and out early in the year, while starters were frequently asked to carry heavy workloads.
Now, the exact opposite is happening.
Every inning feels locked down once the Dodgers hand over a lead.
The streak began quietly during the club’s recent stretch against the Angels and Padres, but it has snowballed into franchise history. Earlier this week, the bullpen reached 29 consecutive scoreless innings — already the franchise’s longest run since 1998.
Since then, the group has only continued piling up zeroes.
Depth Has Become the Difference
What makes the streak even more impressive is that it hasn’t been carried by just one reliever.
The Dodgers have received contributions from nearly every arm in the bullpen:
- Tanner Scott continues to look like one of baseball’s most overpowering late-inning relievers.
- Alex Vesia has dominated left-handed hitters while remaining effective against everyone else.
- Kyle Hurt has emerged as a breakout weapon, stringing together scoreless appearances and escaping jams in high-leverage spots.
- Jonathan Hernández and several middle-relief arms have quietly stabilized games before they ever become dangerous.
Saturday against Milwaukee was another perfect example. After Roki Sasaki allowed three runs across five innings, four Dodgers relievers combined to shut the Brewers down the rest of the night, extending the streak to a franchise-record 36 innings.
Why It Matters Moving Forward
Championship teams usually reveal themselves in different ways over a 162-game season.
For the Dodgers, the lineup will always receive headlines because of stars like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman. But during this recent stretch, the bullpen has arguably become the club’s most reliable unit.
The impact goes beyond the ERA column.
It shortens games.
It protects young starters.
It allows Dave Roberts to manage aggressively.
And perhaps most importantly, it gives the Dodgers a formula that consistently plays in October.
With injuries still affecting parts of the rotation, Los Angeles suddenly looks built to win games in multiple ways — and the bullpen is a massive reason why.
Right now, every lead feels safe. And every inning added to the streak is pushing this group deeper into Dodgers history.
Chasing Major League History
The Dodgers are now inching toward not just franchise history, but potentially Major League Baseball history as well. Los Angeles’ bullpen scoreless streak reached 36 consecutive innings on Saturday, putting the club within striking distance of some of the longest relief streaks ever recorded. According to historical records and Elias Sports Bureau data, the modern-era MLB bullpen mark is believed to be 44 consecutive scoreless innings by the 2016 Royals.
That means every clean inning from here pushes the Dodgers closer to one of the most dominant bullpen stretches baseball has seen in decades.
The overall Major League record for consecutive scoreless innings by any pitcher remains Orel Hershiser’s legendary 59-inning streak with the Dodgers in 1988 — one of the most iconic pitching records in baseball history.
Main Photo Credits: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
