Dodgers @ Giants July 26, 2014: Lineup Stability At Last?

Dodgers
Giants
6:05 p.m. PT
San Francisco, Ca.
2B
Gordon
RF
Pence
CF
Puig
CF
Blanco
1B
Gonzalez
C
Posey
SS
Ramirez
3B
Sandoval
LF
Crawford
LF
Morse
RF
Kemp
1B
Duvall
3B
Uribe
2B
Uggla
C
Ellis
SS
Crawford
P
Kershaw (L)
P
Vogelsong (R)

After last night’s win, the Dodgers are facing Ryan Vogelsong tonight. The notable thing about the lineup facing the right-handed pitcher is that, well, it isn’t notable. It’s exactly the same as what was used last night, except Clayton Kershaw is pitching. I guess if it isn’t broken, it doesn’t need to be fixed. The outfield defensive alignment is the same as last night’s, which played all nine innings. If the outfield lasts the full game, it will be the most commonly used defensive alignment since July 11th. It was used for the first time yesterday.

One curious thing over the past few days has been the disappearance of Andre Ethier. He hasn’t played any defense since Wednesday. Additionally, he hasn’t started in place of Carl Crawford since Sunday, when he played nine innings in right. I’m not sure if this means that the team is uncomfortable playing Ethier in left field, with Matt Kemp seeming to be locked into right. I generally don’t believe that Ethier is completely broken, but I have the same opinion of Crawford. At least Crawford is hitting the ball hard; his 25.7% line drive rate is significantly higher than Ethier’s rate of 20.7%.

Alex Guerrero has re-joined the Isotopes, so his rehab assignment is complete. He was added in place of infielder Delvis Morales, who I’m only mentioning because his first name is Delvis. Guerrero will join the perpetually rehabbing Scott Elbert and Chone Figgins. The team has some more time with both, since Figgins can be optioned to Albuquerque and Elbert has longer on his rehab clocks (his toe “setback” bought a bit of time). Elbert is out of options, so the team will have to make a decision sooner or later.

The Giants acquired Jake Peavy in a trade today, and he’ll start against the Dodgers tomorrow night. Yes, he has good numbers against the Dodgers. No, you shouldn’t be worried about it. We’ll talk about it a bit before tomorrow night’s game. The Peavy trade means that the Red Sox could be preparing for a larger sale. Jon Lester and Koji Uehara would go a long way towards fixing the team’s weaknesses. The price for those two would be more than we would like, but it’s fun to dream.

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About Daniel Brim

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Daniel Brim grew up in the Los Angeles area but doesn't live there anymore. He still watches the Dodgers and writes about them sometimes.