2020 Dodgers in review: Jake McGee

Jake McGee was a late addition to the Dodgers in the offseason, as he was signed just days before the season began. He had a rough first showing, as he got lit up in his first appearance for LA during the Summer Camp. McGee quickly put that behind him, as he had arguably one of the better seasons of his career in 2020.

He finished the season with an ERA of 2.66, his lowest since 2015. In addition, he averaged a career-high 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings and had a career-high 11.00 SO/BB ratio.

If you were to step into the batters box against McGee, you were more than likely to see a fastball. Like, you were nearly guaranteed to see one. He threw a fastball 96.4% of the time, as he threw his slider 3% of the time and his sinker only 0.6% of the time.

He’s always relied on his fastball, but he really took things up to another level this season.

Baseball Savant

He quickly became a dominant option for the Dodgers out of the bullpen, as he owned a 0.79 ERA through his first 13 outings. Opponents were hitting only .105 off him, as he had 16 strikeouts in 11 innings. He had one blow-up outing in which he allowed four runs in ¹⁄₃ of an inning. If you were to take out that outing, his ERA on the season would have been only 0.90.

McGee was only used four times during the Dodgers’ postseason run, throwing only 2 ²⁄₃ innings. He allowed a total of four hits, with one of them being a home run. It was the only run he allowed, as he struck out four hitters.

2020 particulars

Age: 34

Stats: 3-1, 2.66 ERA, 1.67 FIP, 0.836 WHIP, 14.6 SO/9, 11.0 SO/BB, 161 ERA+

Salary: $563,000

Game of the year

On Aug. 15, McGee entered a tied game with one out in the eighth inning on the road in Anaheim. He shut things down fairly quickly, recording five outs only only 16 pitches. He struck out one and didn’t allow a single hit. McGee was credited with the victory.

Roster status

McGee has nine years and 127 days of service time. He’ll be a free-agent in 2021. Depending on how the market plays out, it’s tough to see the Dodgers bringing him back next season.