Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Seth Halvorsen, Dodgers playoff closer.
There’s an attention grabber, and while unlikely, at this point it’s hard to rule anything out as right-handed leverage reliever after right-handed leverage reliever continue to come up short for the Dodgers.
Brock Stewart is hurt for the millionth time, Will Klein might be out for the year, Blake Treinen is currently hurt and also hasn’t been good since 2024, and Kyle Hurt is back now but had to demoted previously due to a loss of command. That sorta leaves just Evan Phillips — who currently has a 4.66 ERA/7.22 FIP as he works back from injury — along with Edgardo Henriquez — who had been an early-season revelation but has now walked nine and hit two batters in his last nine innings — and Edwin Diaz, who is currently a meme generator.
For your use: https://t.co/EO12AutHxh pic.twitter.com/oFFEhbNF14
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 30, 2026
All of that is to say, Dave Roberts has no righty reliever to rely on right now, so why not see what they have in Halvorsen?
At the time of his acquisition a couple of weeks ago, he was injured and his stuff was down a tick or two anyway, which is what led him to a 4.91 ERA/5.37 FIP over the last two seasons in the majors. So far with the Dodgers, however, he has made six appearances in AAA for 6.1 innings*, striking out eight, walking two, and allowing just four singles (two of the groundball variety). Given that his BB/9 was last seen above seven, the control is notable, but obviously there’s more to it than performing in AAA.
*For what its worth, he also looked good for the Rockies in the AAA launching pad of Albuquerque, with a 2.04 ERA/3.38 FIP/2.97 xERA in 17.2 innings with a 24/7 K/BB. Probably why the Dodgers felt good about trading something for him.
Rather, the most promising thing is that he has looked back to something like his 2024 form when he looked like the future closer of the Rockies. He’s averaging around 100 MPH again and touching 102 MPH, the spin rate on his fastball is up 100 RPM, and his slider is also back up a couple of ticks to 88-89 MPH. While his arm angle has gradually risen from 41 degrees in 2024 to 51 degrees this year, it’s back down to around 46 with the Dodgers, as that seems like part of the adjustments they’re having him go through.
Seth Halvorsen gets the strikeout on a 101mph fastball ? pic.twitter.com/DZjWPFWaxX
— Hyeseong Kim Muse 김혜성 (Fan account) (@HyeseongKimMuse) July 26, 2026
Why isn’t he up yet? Well, building up from the major injury is probably the biggest reason, as he has yet to pitch in back-to-back games, which seems like the bare minimum requirement for Dodgers relievers. Additionally, while the raw walk rates are better he’s still not hitting the zone as frequent as you’d like, which might be a bigger problem in the majors than the minors, and he’s still working out his pitch mix as it seems like he may have scrapped his split with the Dodgers.
Still, he seems no more flawed than the rest of the options right now, and as the Dodgers bullpen continues to struggle with injuries and ineffectiveness from the right side in particular, whenever he’s built up seems like as good a time as ever to see if their latest reclamation project can give them anything down the stretch.
