Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Dan Haren‘s back in town tonight, this time wearing Marlins gray… black… orange… light blue… whatever. Let’s talk about #narrative.
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Marlins
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles, Ca.
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2B
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Gordon
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CF
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Pederson
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3B
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Prado
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SS
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Rollins
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RF
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Stanton
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2B
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Kendrick
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CF
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Ozuna
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1B
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Gonzalez
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LF
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Yelich
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3B
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Guerrero
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1B
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Morse
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C
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Grandal
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C
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Realmuto
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RF
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Ethier
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SS
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Hechavarria
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LF
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Van Slyke
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P
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Haren(R)
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P
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Bolsinger(R)
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The #narrative is that with Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy both injured, and with Haren off to a superficially great start (4-1, 2.68 ERA) after the Dodgers paid the Marlins to make him go away — to say nothing of what Dee Gordon‘s doing — that the brain trust made a terrible mistake. Considering that Mike Bolsinger (called back up with Chris Heisey headed back down to Triple-A) is starting tonight, and that Carlos Frias is apparently part of the regular rotation now, you can kind of see the reasoning there.
Of course, we’ve played this game before. Haren’s 2.68 ERA isn’t in the least backed up by a 4.61 FIP. His velocity is markedly down again, with his fastball now struggling to reach 87. His strikeouts are down from his lone year with the Dodgers, which was down from his lone year with the Nationals. His walks are up from his lone year with the Dodgers, which was up from his lone year with the Nationals. His home run problem is up from last year, with six allowed in just 37 innings. How’s he getting by? A .198 BABIP. A 89.8 LOB%. I assume I don’t have to tell you that neither is sustainable.
All of which is to say that regression is coming, and it’s coming hard. I don’t know if it’s coming tonight, but I also know that I’m not entirely sure that the Marlins have that big of an edge on the mound this evening. (Don’t forget, also, that Howie Kendrick wouldn’t be at second, and Chris Hatcher wouldn’t be in the bullpen, and Enrique Hernandez wouldn’t be on the bench, and Austin Barnes wouldn’t be at Triple-A, were it not for that trade.) Justin Turner and Juan Uribe take a seat tonight, as the revolving door at third base continues.
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Really, though, all anyone cares about today is Yasiel Puig‘s hamstring. Not a lot of good news to pass along, unfortunately.
MRI showed Puig had "a little bit of a setback," Mattingly said.
— Dylan Hernández (@dylanohernandez) May 12, 2015
[table id=5 /]Same info as last night for Yasiel Puig. MRI confirmed hamstring strain. Will be shut down for a few days
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) May 12, 2015
