Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Braves have fallen hard and fast. It was less than three years ago Don Mattingly had Paco Rodriguez walk Reed Johnson to get to Jason Heyward. It was less than three years ago Craig Kimbrel sat in the bullpen while Juan Uribe hit one of the most memorable home runs in Dodger history.
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Dodgers
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Braves
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4:10 p.m. PT
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Atlanta
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2B
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Utley
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RF
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Markakis
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SS
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Seager
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2B
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Castro
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3B
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Turner
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1B
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Freeman
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1B
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Gonzalez
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3B
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Garcia
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RF
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Puig
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LF
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Francoeur
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C
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Grandal
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C
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Flowers
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LF
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Kendrick
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SS
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Aybar
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CF
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Pederson
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CF
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Smith
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P
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Wood (L)
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P
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Perez (R)
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Now, Atlanta is a shell of its former self and are in a full rebuilding mode (the correct move for that franchise). Nick Markakis is off to a nice start this season, but his signing before last season still doesn’t make sense. Erick Aybar is around until Aug. 1 at the latest, as he’ll be traded. Freddie Freeman has lots of money after signing his 9-figure deal before last season, but there isn’t a lot of help around him. Oh, and Hector Olivera is, allegedly, human garbage.
The Dodgers, which overwhelmingly won that trade, send Alex Wood to the mound for his third start of the season. I wrote about his first two starts earlier today. The lineup looks strong, as Yasmani Grandal is a massive upgrade over A.J. Ellis. That was already known, but it has shown in just the last two games. It’s refreshing.
Howie Kendrick in left field is going to be a thing until Scott Van Slyke returns. Let’s just hope his hamstring holds up. Overall, this is a really strong lineup. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Chase Utley‘s production thus far. Corey Seager is struggling a tad, but that home run on Saturday against Javier Lopez was a thing of beauty.
One bit of prospect news:
Kyle Garlick, the Dodgers’ 25th-round draft pick last year, hit three home runs for Rancho Cucamonga on Monday night. He’s probably nothing more than organizational depth (seeing as he’s 24 and just in High-A), but three homers in a game is still three homers in a game. He’s slashing .333/.422/.692 in his first 45 plate appearances this season.
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