McDowell to Join L.A.; Hartley and Castillo to Phillies

After hearing a season’s worth of criticism, the Dodgers have finally made a change in their suspect bullpen.

But whether that change will coincide with an improvement depends on the inconsistent arm of right-handed pitcher Roger McDowell, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday for pitcher Mike Hartley and double-A outfielder Braulio Castillo.

In a surprise deal completed just before the deadline for trading without waivers, the Dodgers gave up two top young players, hoping that McDowell’s experience will stabilize its bullpen, considered soft in middle relief.

McDowell and his wife, Karen, welcomed the move.

“I called my wife and she is real excited,” said McDowell, 30, after going from last to first place in a matter of minutes. “She wants to go shopping for playoff clothes.”

McDowell, who had lost his job as a closer to Mitch Williams, was 3-6 with a 3.20 earned-run average and three saves. McDowell had given up 32 walks with only 28 strikeouts, and allowed 61 hits in 59 innings.

He has not pitched much recently after missing 17 days because of a strained right side and had become expendable because he is in the middle of a three-year contract that will play him $2 million this season and $2.2 million next season. That makes him the highest-paid member of the Dodgers’ bullpen.

McDowell had a combined 45 saves during the past two seasons while pitching for both the New York Mets and Phillies. But last year, despite 22 saves, he gave up 92 hits in 86 1/3 innings, walked 35, and struck out 39.

Like three other current Dodgers, McDowell played for the 1986 world champion New York Mets. He set a club record with 14 relief victories that season.

But McDowell’s latest postseason exploits are not pretty. He gave up the game-winning home run to the Dodgers’ Kirk Gibson in the 12th inning in Game 4 of the 1988 National League playoffs.

The Dodgers are hoping that a switch from the Philadelphia turf to grass will help McDowell’s sinker return him to stardom.

“We like (McDowell) a lot, he’s been out there when the game is on the line many, many times,” Dodger Vice President Fred Claire said. “He has shown he can pitch in a lot of big games. And he has always been a good pitcher on grass. He has a lot to offer us.”

Said McDowell: “Because I’m a sinker-ball pitcher, going to (Dodger Stadium) is really going to help me . . . I want to be buried in Dodger blue.”

McDowell is also considered good for a clubhouse, as long as the members of that clubhouse can take a joke. McDowell has always been a prankster, a player who throws as many firecrackers as pitches, a man whose locker is filled with masks and props.

During the Phillies’ last visit to Dodger Stadium, McDowell donned a sombrero and played with a mariachi band in center field.

While the Dodgers might not miss Hartley as a reliever--he had a team-high 4.42 ERA in a team-high 40 games--he had potential as a starting pitcher.

Last season he was 3-2 with a 2.52 ERA in six starts but lost that starting job when pitchers Bob Ojeda and Kevin Gross were acquired during the winter.

Hartley will begin his Phillies’ career in the bullpen, but considering that two of Philadelphia’s current starters started in the same place, at least he has hope. And he is glad he is out of the perform-or-sit pressure of the Dodgers’ bullpen.

“I was in a difficult situation here,” he said. “When you pitch well, they use you over and over again, it takes a toll on your arm. But it’s also tough when you don’t get the call. You sit and wait and it’s hard to be sharp.

“But I know if I had much better numbers, none of this would have happened.”

Castillo, a former top prospect from the Dominican Republic who underwent rehabilitation for an alcohol problem last year, was hitting .302 with eight home runs and 48 runs batted in in 86 games for double-A San Antonio.