Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Walker Buehler‘s first start of the season was an absolute disaster. He had the fastball velocity (actually up from last year, if you can believe it) but could not throw his breaking pitches for strikes. The Diamondbacks properly waited for him to find the zone with his fastball, and they pounced on it. It was one of the worst games of his career.
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Dodgers
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Rockies
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5:10 p.m.
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Colorado
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LF
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Pederson |
RF
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Blackmon | |
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SS
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Seager |
SS
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Story | |
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3B
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Turner |
3B
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Arenado | |
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1B
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Bellinger |
LF
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Dahl | |
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CF
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Pollock |
CF
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Desmond | |
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2B
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Muncy |
1B
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Reynolds | |
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RF
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Verdugo | 2B | Valaika | |
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C
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Barnes |
C
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Wolters | |
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P
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Buehler (R) |
P
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Gray (R) |
Coors Field is not the ideal place to recover from this. Another one of Buehler’s worst starts came on the same field last June, in which he allowed four runs in five innings while striking out only two batters and allowing eight hits. He did show an ability to pitch in Denver in his next two starts, combining for four runs in 13 innings pitched. There’s hope for him to find his form, though it may take more time due to his abbreviated spring.
Opposing Buehler will be Jon Gray, who turned in a decent start against the Marlins in his season debut. Gray struck out 10 batters and walked one in 6-2/3 innings, but allowed three runs in the process. Gray’s fastball averaged 96 and touched 98 in that start, though he only threw 50% fastballs. He mixes in the standard three pitches (slider, curve, and change) to fill out his arsenal. Dodger batters will face a decent challenge today, attempting to overcome that sort of velocity.
Alex Verdugo will get a rare start against Gray today, with Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez both beginning today’s game on the bench. Cody Bellinger will get his second start of the season at first base, as Max Muncy slides to second and Austin Barnes gets the start at catcher. After a few starts off for left-handed starting pitchers, Joc Pederson gets the nod today in left field.
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Clayton Kershaw will get another rehab start before his return to the rotation:
Clayton Kershaw will make a rehab start as his next step. #Dodgers
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) April 6, 2019
Rich Hill threw a bullpen session today and results were positive, though the team has not talked about potential rehab starts yet. It sounds like he is still a few weeks away.
Joe Kelly was not added to the injured list yet after taking a comebacker to his right wrist in last night’s game. He is currently day-to-day following negative x-rays. It is unclear whether or not he will be available to pitch in tonight’s game. Kenley Jansen should be available, though having to warm up in yesterday’s game is not what the Dodgers wanted. If he pitches tonight, he may not be available for tomorrow night’s contest.
