Dodgers @ Angels June 11, 2019: Maeda looks to avoid getting bullpenned

Hyun-Jin Ryu was his usual dominant self last night, but hit 99 pitches in six innings and needed three bullpen innings to hold a 3-1 lead. That.. did not happen, and the Dodgers dropped their first game in Anaheim. Today, the Dodgers look to salvage a two-game series split.

Dodgers
Angels
7:07 p.m.
Anaheim
LF
Pederson
3B
La Stella
3B
Muncy
CF
Trout
DH
Turner
DH
Ohtani
RF
Bellinger
RF
Calhoun
SS
Seager
C
Lucroy
CF
Verdugo
LF
Goodwin
2B
Taylor
1B
Bour
1B
Hernández SS Tovar
C
Barnes
2B
Rengifo
P
Maeda (R)
P
Bedrosian (R)

Kenta Maeda starts today for the Dodgers.

https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/1138317835631976448

Maeda has been throwing the ball very well of late, despite the Dodgers keeping his pitches seemingly limited. He hasn’t thrown over 90 pitches in a game since April 16, but he’s been pretty efficient lately. In his last five starts, Maeda has thrown 28 2/3 innings and owns a 1.88 ERA. Opponents in this time are slashing .140/.173/.250 against Maeda, and he’s struck out 35 batters with only three walks. In his last start, Maeda was taken out after only 70 pitches/five innings. He allowed one run and only three baserunners in those five innings, but was removed for Julio Urias before being given the chance to face the Arizona lineup for a third time.

The Angels are using an opener today, with Cam Bedrosian getting the start. He’s started a game six times this season, and he hasn’t seen the second inning in either of his first six starts. Bedrosian pitched the seventh inning last night and struck out two Dodgers in a perfect inning. Per Jorge Castillo, Felix Pena will take over after Bedrosian.

Pena made normal starts in his first four appearances of the season, but has come in to the game in the second innings of seven of his eight outings since then. He had a one-inning relief appearance on May 26, but Pena has thrown at least 60 pitches in his other 11 outings this season. He was having a pretty solid season, with a 3.42 ERA and opponent OPS of .627 in his first 11 outings of the year. However, he got shelled his last time out, allowing eight hits and seven runs in 1 2/3 innings without allowing a homer (impressive). Pena is primarily a two-pitch pitcher, throwing a slider and sinker each more than 40 percent of the time.

The Dodgers roll out mostly the same lineup from last night. Austin Barnes replaces Russell Martin behind the plate and the catchers’ spot drops to ninth in the order, with Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez sliding up a spot. For the Angels, Shohei Ohtani hits third and is the DH. Albert Pujols gets the day off as Justin Bour is up from Triple-A and back in the lineup.

——

The Dodger bullpen has a different arm in it today.

Caleb Ferguson is back after being sent down May 26th. His first stint in the pen this year did not go so well, as he allowed 30 baserunners and 11 runs in 16 2/3 innings. He replaces Scott Alexander, who hasn’t pitched since June 5 but the IL stint is retroactive to June 8.

——

The Dodgers signed some of the players they drafted last week.

Mitchell Tyranski and Kody Hoese have signed. The Dodgers signed their first rounder this year, which is progress after last year. You can read more about Tyranski (here) and Hoese (here) and also buy these shirts (here).

——

The first returns on NL All-Star voting were released today.

https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1138528620660420608

Cody Bellinger is, unsurprisingly, the top vote getter in Major League Baseball. He’s also slumping a bit right now, so I’m sure we can agree to blame the Home Run Derby. Joc Pederson is fourth in outfield voting in the NL (because he’s platooned, this does not mean that he shouldn’t be platooned), and Corey Seager and Justin Turner are in the top three in their respective positions.

——

Will the Dodgers outscore Alex Morgan today?

About Alex Campos

I've been writing about the Dodgers since I graduated from Long Beach State, where I covered the Dirtbags in my senior year. I'm either very good or very bad at puns.