How relief pitcher Brent Honeywell became a Los Angeles Dodgers folk hero

In Game 4 of the 2024 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, down by two in the eighth inning, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in a relief pitcher who had just been hammered a week earlier in the National League Championship Series: Brent Honeywell Jr.

In his last appearance against the New York Mets, Honeywell pitched 4 2/3 innings, while giving up six hits and yielding four runs.

His performance in Game 5 of the NLCS, while on the surface unimpressive and borderline disastrous, was nothing short of heroic.

With the game mostly out of hand, Roberts inserted Honeywell, a turtleneck-wearing, screwball-throwing right-hander from Carnesville, Georgia who was on his fifth MLB team and had actually been waived by the Dodgers earlier in the season, to take on one of the most underrated and misunderstood parts a pitcher can play.

Honeywell went in to eat—innings, that is.

The Dodgers, whose pitching staff had been decimated by injuries, especially to its vaunted starting rotation, relied heavily on its bullpen to carry it through the regular season and, ultimately, to the title.

Roberts had his most trusted bullpen arms in Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen, whom he deployed in close games to protect a lead or hold off opposing teams to allow the Dodgers bats to mount a comeback.

But with the game possibly out of reach, rather than "burn" one of his go-to bullpen arms, Roberts sent in Honeywell.

His job, as Honeywell later described it: "Save the dawgs."

The 29-year-old rewarded his manager with four innings of work, saving his high-leverage teammates, aka the dawgs, from having to enter a game the team had essentially already lost.

"That's the job they asked me to do, and I wanted to do it," an emotional Honeywell, drenched in celebratory champagne and beer, said to Dodgers reporter Kristin Watson in the locker room following the team's NLCS Game 6 victory. "I wasn't coming out until I had to—until [Roberts] ripped the ball out of my hand."

Honeywell said his teammate, third-baseman Max Muncy, had words of encouragement as he was leaving the mound after pitching nearly five innings. "He said I won us Game 6."

Honeywell taking a beating to get the Dodgers out of Game 5 allowed Roberts to utilize a fully healthy bullpen for the following game, a series-clinching, World Series ticket-punching 10-5 win over the Mets.

Muncy's premonition proved true.

Muncy later said of Honeywell during a joint interview with David Vassegh, "This guy's a dog. Put him in any position ... He's got you. This guy don't care."

Muncy also credited Honeywell with helping star Mookie Betts get his swing right, providing live batting practice for the Dodgers star in San Diego while Honeywell was inactive.

"I threw them right down the middle and said crank that s*** out the ballpark," Honeywell said with a laugh.

Betts, who was phenomenal during his 2024 postseason run, had struggled in his previous two playoff appearances, carrying a hitless streak of 22 postseason plate appearances into the team's matchup with the San Diego Padres.

Betts finished his '24 postseason with a .290 batting average, ammassing 18 hits, 4 home runs and 16 RBIs.

Honeywell, as Muncy said, was willing to do whatever it took to help the team win, even if it made him look bad.

"He's one of the heartbeats of this team," Muncy said. "He doesn't get enough credit."

In his one and only World Series appearance, Honeywell was again called upon to enter the game down two runs.

In the eighth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, Honeywell again took a beating, giving up five runs, including a three-run jack from Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres that led to him screaming into his glove.

He didn't receive much help from his teammates or the officiating crew, including an easy pop-up that was missed by catcher Will Smith, a bad throw to home plate by second baseman Gavin Lux, and a ticky-tacky play at second that was ruled safe but on replay looked to have been called incorrectly.

He lasted only one inning instead of the four-plus from his previous outing, and threw a World Series record 50 pitches in a single inning before it mercifully came to an end.

Again, Honeywell saved the dawgs.

His statistical sacrifice, as well as opening himself up to a bevy of online criticism, may again have won his team a win in their next game.

In Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday, starting pitcher Jack Flaherty was ran off in the second inning after giving up four runs, including homers to Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Flaherty's inability to go deep in the game forced Roberts to again look to his bullpen to hold the Yankees off so his offense could attempt a comeback.

Six bullpens arms, Banda, Vesia, Treinen and Kopech, as well as Ryan Brasier and Brusdar Graterol, pitched in to throw seven-plus innings. Starting pitcher Walker Buehler made a surprise relief appearance, coming into the ninth with a one-run lead to close out the World Series and lead the Dodgers to their eighth title.

When the dust settles and the streets of Los Angeles are swept of parade confetti, Honeywell will be a free agent, his future uncertain, his career prospects and reputation possibly damaged by his two most recent outings.

But the 2014 second-round pick, who has struggled with injuries throughout his brief career, will remain an unsung hero of the 2024 World Series team, his willingness to put aside his ego for the greater good and his eccentricities on and off the mound should endear him to Dodgers faithful — and he should never have to pay for his own beer in Los Angeles again.

He's already paid for it.