Marlins @ Dodgers April 26, 2016: Welcome back, Carl Crawford

The Dodgers welcome Carl Crawford back from the 15-day disabled list tonight. He’ll start in left field for the first time since April 6. To make room for him, the Dodgers sent Zach Lee back to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He didn’t make an appearance since being recalled on Saturday.

Marlins
Dodgers
7:10 p.m. PT
Los Angeles
2B
Gordon
2B
Utley
 3B
Prado
 SS
Seager
LF 
Yelich
 3B
Turner
 RF
 Stanton
 1B
Gonzalez
 CF
Ozuna
 RF
Puig
 Realmuto
 C
Grandal
 1B
Johnson  LF Crawford
 SS
Hechavarria
CF
 Pederson
P
Koehler (R)
P
Kershaw (L)

Left field has been a revolving door since Crawford went out. Enrique Hernandez, Howie Kendrick, Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke all played the position with Crawford out. Now that he’s back, he should get most of the starts against right-handers until he proves he can’t handle it or until Van Slyke comes back. Expect Hernandez and Thompson to share time out there as his platoon partner (probably Hernandez seeing as Joc Pederson is a platoon player in center field).

Yasmani Grandal is catching Clayton Kershaw for the first time this season. There needs to be more of this going forward.

Other roster/injury updates…

Encouraging for Hyun-Jin Ryu, but there’s a long way to go.

Still not expecting Brandon McCarthy back until after the All-Star break (at earliest) … gotta start somewhere, though.

Ross Stripling has been solid in his first go-round in the majors. He has struggled a little in his last couple starts (one outing on him, part of the other outing is on Dave Roberts) and could probably benefit from a skipped start.

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About Dustin Nosler

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Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue. He co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, Calif.