Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Short thread tonight.
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Dodgers
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Marlins
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4:10 p.m.
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Miami, Fla.
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CF
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Pederson
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2B
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Gordon
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2B
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Kendrick
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LF
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Yelich
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3B
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Turner
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SS
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Hechavarria
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1B
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Gonzalez
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RF
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Stanton
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RF
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Van Slyke
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CF
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Ozuna
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LF
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Guerrero
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1B
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Baker
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SS
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Rollins
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3B
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Dietrich
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C
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Ellis
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C
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Realmuto
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P
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Anderson (L)
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P
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Nicolino (L)
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Pedro Baez is back! He has been excellent this year (1.76 ERA, 1.68 FIP, 2.10 xFIP) in his 15-1/3 innings of work. While his improvement requires further analysis, a lot of it can be traced back to him gaining 2mph on his fastball (and increasing his swinging strike rate from 10% to 15%). One of the reasons why I didn’t like him much last year was because he allowed a lot of fly balls (0.76 GB/FB ratio). This year, that ratio has improved to a shade over 1, which isn’t great but is still much better and should lead to fewer home runs as long as he can keep this up. Baez showed signs of greatness last year, but there were a lot of red flags. So far this year, those red flags are gone.
Baez’ arrival is occurring at the right time. The bullpen has been very busy lately. Kenley Jansen and Joel Peralta are probably not available tonight after throwing in the final three games in Chicago. Baez will be much more trustworthy than Ian Thomas would have been (Thomas was optioned to make room on the roster).
Also, I have never heard of tonight’s Marlins starter (Justin Nicolino), though he was rated the number 3 Marlins prospect by Baseball America last year. His changeup is apparently excellent (B.A. called it the best in the Southern League in 2014). This is Nicolino’s second major league start. In his first, he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Reds, striking out two and walking two. In addition to the change, Nicolino has a 90mph sinker, a hard slider, and a 12-6 curve. Nicolino is left-handed, and apparently this means that Yasmani Grandal and A.J. Ellis are in a strict platoon, because Ellis is starting for the second game in a row. Unfortunately, Yasiel Puig is sitting for the third game in a row due to his hand callous.
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