Dodgers @ Rockies May 12, 2017: Kershaw vs. Chatwood

(Via)

This series has gotten off to a very Coors-y start, with last night’s game featuring a combined 17 runs and 26 hits. Today, the Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw (2.40 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 0.925 WHIP) to the mound to try to stop a very hot Rockies offense at the league’s most hitter-friendly park.

Dodgers
Rockies
5:40 p.m.
Colorado
CF
 Pederson
CF
Blackmon
SS
Seager
2B
LeMahieu
3B
Turner
3B
Arenado
LF
Bellinger
1B
Reynolds
C
Grandal
LF
Desmond
2B
Taylor
RF
González
1B
Utley SS Valaika
RF
Puig
C
Garneau
P
Kershaw (L)
P
Chatwood (R)

Kershaw is making his second start of the season at Coors Field, and his third against the Rockies. In his previous Denver start, he went six innings and allowed four runs on eight hits, including three home runs. He fared much better against the Rox at home, allowing two runs on five hits while also notching a season-high 10 strikeouts.

This will be the first time Tyler Chatwood (4.74 ERA, 5.52 FIP, 1.260 WHIP) starts against the Dodgers this season. Chatwood, who missed most of 2014 and all of 2015 due to Tommy John surgery, has faced the Dodgers 11 times in his career, including four times last season (twice at Coors, twice at Dodger Stadium). The Dodgers won three of those four starts. In the game they lost, Chatwood pitched eight one-run, one-hit innings.

Chatwood, primarily a groundball pitcher, throws five-pitch mix which features a four seamer, a sinker and a slider with occasional curveballs and changeups. He has been mostly subpar so far this year, although he’s had two very good starts: a complete game shutout against the Giants in San Francisco, and, his last time out, seven innings of one-run ball against the Diamondbacks in Denver. We’ll see which Chatwood the Dodgers get today.

——

As we knew, Andre Ethier isn’t going to be back for quite some time (if ever):

Adrián González will be playing in some rehab games next week:

And Hyun-Jin Ryu is getting some additional rest before his next start:

About Sarah Wexler

Sarah Wexler is a native Angeleno and longtime Dodger fan. She began blogging about baseball in 2012 on her Tumblr, New Grass On The Field, where she covered an array of topics but especially enjoyed exploring baseball history. She is now a reporter/producer for MLB.com. She earned her master's degree in Sports Management from Cal State Long Beach. She graduated from New York University in 2014 with a bachelor's in History and a minor in American Studies. She's an avid Springsteen fan, which is a big boost to her baseball writer cred.