Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Tonight begins another series against the San Diego Padres, and … a lot has happened since the two teams faced off in Monterrey. The Dodgers are coming into this particular series having won six of seven games, though the Padres remain just two games behind the Dodgers. It’s a reminder of the hill the Dodgers still have to climb.
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Padres
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Dodgers
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7:10 PM
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Los Angeles
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RF
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Jankowski |
SS
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Taylor | |
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1B
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Hosmer |
3B
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Turner | |
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2B
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Pirela |
LF
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Kemp | |
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LF
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Cordero |
CF
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Hernández | |
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3B
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Villanueva |
RF
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Puig | |
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SS
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Galvis |
1B
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Bellinger | |
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C
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Lopez | 2B | Forsythe | |
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CF
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Margot |
C
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Barnes | |
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P
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Richard (L)
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P
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Stripling (R)
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Starting tonight for the Dodgers is Ross Stripling. Fueled by improvement in his curve, Stripling has been pretty successful in his re-conversion to a starter. He is coming off the second-best outing of his young career (it will take a lot to improve upon the first-best). Stripling’s first start as a full-time starter this season was against these Padres in Mexico, but he was only able to last four innings, his workload not yet built up enough to last deep into the game. That shouldn’t be a problem today.
The Dodgers have stacked their lineup with right-handed hitters tonight against Clayton Richard. This is the first time this year the Dodgers have faced the stalwart southpaw. Richard is in a run of good starts: in his last three he has pitched a combined 23-1/3 innings while allowing 7 earned runs. He has walked just one batter in that stretch while striking out 20. The only Dodger left-handed batter in the lineup to start the game will be Cody Bellinger (who is returning to first base after a few games in center), but that will provide good pinch-hitting options late in the game.
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In injury news, Rich Hill seems to be progressing more quickly than originally thought:
Rich Hill will play catch again today. Hopes to face hitters tomorrow, his third time throwing off a mound in five days.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 25, 2018
Earlier this week, Dave Roberts said that Hill would be out for a month. Now he’ll be facing live hitters this week. There has been no word yet on whether or not MLB will let him pitch with a bandage on that finger (but let’s be real, they will not).
There was also good news on Clayton Kershaw‘s recovery on today, the 10th anniversary of his MLB debut:
Expect 2-3 innings from a simulated game from Rich Hill, Dave Roberts said. Clayton Kershaw will shoot for 4 IP/60 pitches.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 25, 2018
If all goes according to plan, Kershaw could be pitching with the Dodgers next week. Hopefully he’ll be fully recovered.
