Cardinals @ Dodgers May 15, 2016: For the Sweep

Cardinals
Dodgers
5:10 p.m. PT
Los Angeles
3B
Carpenter
2B
Utley
RF
Piscotty
SS
Seager
LF
Holliday
3B
Turner
CF
Grichuk
1B
Gonzalez
SS
Diaz
C
Grandal
LF
Hazelbaker
LF
Kendrick
2B
Wong
RF
Puig
C
Fryer
CF
Pederson
P
Leake (R)
P
Wood (L)

Short game thread today.

The Dodgers are going for a sweep behind Alex Wood, who has been excellent lately. Ever since a mechanical tweak before the San Diego start, Wood has pitched 18-1/3 innings, allowed 6 earned runs, struck out 25 batters, and walked three. I generally don’t buy into the home/road split that Wood has as being real going forward (his stuff looked the same in Tampa as it did in LA) but that’s something to be investigated on another day. Wood will be facing Mike Leake, who has a 5.10 ERA and 4.57 FIP since joining the Cardinals this offseason. He projects better than that going forward, but only just.

In important news, Hyun-jin Ryu had his first outing of his rehab assignment today in Rancho Cucamonga. You can’t expect too much out of his first game pitched in a year and a half, which is good because otherwise it would be concerning. Ryu’s fastball was reportedly between 83 and 87 during the start, though various reporters who were present said he was throwing below maximum effort. That’s good, because Ryu’s performance has depended very highly on his velocity so far in his career. It’s not worth panicking about yet, but it is something to be concerned about, especially considering the rocky track records of pitchers coming back from shoulder surgeries.

Jeremy Hazelbaker is starting in left field today for the Cardinals. The Dodgers acquired Hazelbaker for Alex Castellanos in 2013, but then released him last year after he hit .245/.286/.358 in AA (he was league-average in AA the year before). So far for the Cardinals Hazelbaker is hitting .282/.330/.624 (146 wRC+) in 95 plate appearances. Devil magic, everybody.

Tonight is an ESPN game, so prepare for the talk of shadows.

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About Daniel Brim

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Daniel Brim grew up in the Los Angeles area but doesn't live there anymore. He still watches the Dodgers and writes about them sometimes.