Chris Withrow made his major league debut in 2013 and enjoyed great success on the mound in his first full season in relief.
What went right
Withrow was fantastic whether in Triple-A Albuquerque or Los Angeles. He made his major league debut on June 12 and, outside of a few brief trips back to the Isotopes, was a mainstay in the Dodgers bullpen the rest of the year.
In 26 games in his rookie campaign, Withrow was 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 34⅔ innings. Between the majors and minors Withrow put up a combined 2.21 ERA with 76 strikeouts and 26 walks in 61 innings.
After walking 12.6% of batters faced in his minor league career through 2012, Withrow walked just 13 of his 134 batters (9.7%) in his first major league stint, including just four walks in 20⅔ innings in a 17-game span from July 20 to Sept. 13.
Withrow's season turned a corner on July 10 in Arizona, when he pitched three scoreless innings from the 10th to the 12th in a comeback win by he Dodgers to complete a sweep of the Diamondbacks.
He struck out six straight batters at one point, including five strikeouts in two scoreless inning in Cincinnati on Sept. 6:
What went wrong
In his first two major league games Withrow was thrown into the fire, with a one-run lead in the seventh inning in his first game and a two-run lead in the eighth inning in his second game. He recorded two outs in both games but also allowed a total of six runners to reach base and two runs. He allowed a run in four of his first five appearances.
The walk bugaboo reared its head during the NLCS, as Withrow walked five batters against just two strikeouts in 3⅓ innings.
2014 status
Withrow has 129 days of service time and one option remaining. He'll be a part of the Dodgers bullpen next season.