Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers paid tribute to Shohei Ohtani‘s time with the Angels last night. Ohtani had two hits including a homer and walked twice as the Dodgers lost 3-2 in extras because their relievers couldn’t stop hitting Angels. The offense fell predictably flat without Will Smith, who had the day off and is back in the lineup today. Today, the Dodgers have a chance to split their two-game series with the Angels and their weird little two-game homestand before heading out to the South Side to kick off a six-game road trip.
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| 7:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| 1B | Schanuel (L) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| 3B | Rengifo (S) | C | Smith |
| LF | Ward | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| DH | Calhoun (L) | LF | T. Hernández |
| C | O’Hoppe | CF | Pages |
| SS | Neto | RF | Heyward (L) |
| CF | Moniak (L) | SS | Rojas |
| RF | Adell | 2B | Lux (L) |
| 2B | Guillorme (L) | 3B | Biggio (L) |
| P | Plesac (R) | P | Glasnow (R) |
Tyler Glasnow gets the ball for the Dodgers tonight. He was excellent in his last start, but that was overshadowed by Mookie Betts taking 98 to the hand. Glasnow allowed three hits and a walk over seven shutout innings against the Royals, and the Dodgers actually scored three runs while he was in the game. It dropped his ERA back down to 3.00 after a rough five-run start in New York. He’s continued to work deep into games and rack up strikeouts of late. He’s gone six or seven innings in each of his last four starts and has struck out 38 in those starts with only eight walks. Glasnow still holds the Major League lead in strikeouts with 125, one more than future Dodger teammate Garrett Crochet. He’s thrown 4 1/3 more innings than Crochet, so Glasnow’s second with a 34.7 percent strikeout rate behind Crochet (more on Crochet on Monday, as he starts the opener against the Dodgers).
Glasnow’s struggled a bit against the Angels over the last few years. In 2021, Glasnow allowed three runs and four hits/four walks against the Angels and was taken deep by Ohtani (and Anthony Rendon). Last season, Glasnow allowed four earned runs (seven runs total) over six innings but didn’t issue a walk.
Zach Plesac gets his second start of the season for the Angels tonight. Plesac started his career in Cleveland with a couple good seasons following by some mediocre seasons, before sorta falling apart last season. Plesac only made five starts in the Majors last season and allowed 20 runs (18 earned) and 37 hits over 21 1/3 innings. He got demoted to the Minors and struggled there, with a 6.08 ERA in 19 outings. He signed with the Angels this offseason and started off rocky in the minors with a 5.42 ERA and 1.420 WHIP over 13 starts. Despite the struggles, he was called up thanks to some Angel injuries and struggles and made his first start on Monday against the Brewers. Plesac had a solid debut as he allowed three runs and four hits over six innings. All three runs came on a pair of homers and he would have allowed four runs had he not picked off a runner before a sixth-inning Brice Turang homer. Plesac has never been a huge strikeout guy. He’s only had a strikeout rate over 20 percent once in his career (only in the COVID year) and only struck out one Brewer last time out. It didn’t fare much better in the Minors, as he struck out 51 in 74 2/3 innings in AAA this season and 71 in 94 2/3 innings last season. Plesac’s only start against the Dodgers came in LA in 2022. He allowed one run on a Cody Bellinger homer over six innings, but only struck out one.
Plesac is a four-pitch pitcher. Last season was his first where he threw a slider more than a fastball. He’d never thrown it more than 30 percent of the time before, but last season he threw it 40.8 percent of the time. He threw his fastball 39.7 percent of the time, changeup 15.4 percent and curve 4.1 percent. In his first start he threw 36 fastballs, 27 changeups (26 to lefties), 17 sliders and six curves.
Smith returns to the lineup hitting second with Teoscar Hernandez moving back down to cleanup. The Angels roll out almost the same lineup as last night, but Jo Adell moves up a spot and Luis Guillorme starts at second and hits ninth.
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A mixed bag of updates regarding Brusdar Graterol, Dustin May and Clayton Kershaw.
Brusdar Graterol and Dustin May threw bullpens this week in Arizona.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 22, 2024
Dave Roberts called both “very promising.”
Per #Dodgers Dave Roberts — Clayton Kershaw had some soreness after his rehab start. Threw a light bullpen session today. Tuesday rehab start with OKC could be pushed back if it continues
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) June 22, 2024
Gratereol and May each threw bullpen sessions earlier this week. Clayton Kershaw had his first rehab game on Wednesday and he looked pretty good, but is now reporting some soreness. It’s his first start since shoulder surgery so some soreness isn’t the most surprising thing, but his next rehab start (scheduled for Tuesday) could be pushed back.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.
