Dodgers @ Cubs May 31, 2016: Kazmir vs. Arrieta

Dodgers
Cubs
5:05 p.m. PT
Chicago
2B
Utley
CF
Fowler
SS
Seager
RF
Heyward
1B
Gonzalez
3B
Bryant
CF
Pederson
1B
Rizzo
LF
Thompson
2B
Zobrist
3B
Kendrick
LF
Soler
RF
Puig
SS
Russell
C
Grandal
C
Montero
P
Kazmir (L)
P
Arrieta (R)

You know what’s gotta be fun for a team that got all of one hit the day before? Knowing that today, they have to face one of the best pitchers in baseball, who just so happens to have no-hit them last season. (I mean, technically — we could always have a discussion about Enrique Hernandez reaching on what was ruled an error.)

Jake Arrieta has been something of a sore spot for Dodger fans over the past year, and not just because of the no hitter. His astounding second half of the 2015 season led to him winning the NL Cy Young Award over both Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. Arrieta has continued to be dominant into 2016, and the Cubs have yet to lose a game in which he’s made a start, which has generated some talk about whether or not he’s better than Kershaw now. (The absolute tear Kershaw has been on of late seems to have quashed that, thankfully.)

Arrieta’s ERA of 1.72 is an entire point lower than his FIP of 2.73 (and even lower than his xFIP of 3.11), suggesting that luck has been on his side this year (as if his .220 BABIP didn’t suggest that enough on its own). His strikeout and walk rates are good, but the key to his success thus far seems to be more about his ability to induce weak contact.

Scott Kazmir enters this game coming off of his brilliant 12-strikeout performance against the Reds. This time, he gets to contend with a very good Cubs lineup. Good luck, Scott.

Of course, this could all be moot. The tarp has been on the field at Wrigley since about 3 PM central time, preventing both teams from taking batting practice. A rain delay or postponement remains a possibility.

We got a few Dodger injury updates today, and none of them are particularly good. To start, Alex Wood‘s triceps soreness will land him on the DL, which means we’ll be seeing Julio Urias again soon:

We have no idea when Andre Ethier is going to be coming back, apparently:

But wait, there’s more!

Finally, in non-injury news, Alex Guerrero finally, mercifully, got designated for assignment:

In the 10 games he played this month at the Double- and Triple-A levels, Guerrero was slashing a meager .050/.073/.050.

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About Sarah Wexler

Sarah Wexler is a native Angeleno and longtime Dodger fan. She began blogging about baseball in 2012 on her Tumblr, New Grass On The Field, where she covered an array of topics but especially enjoyed exploring baseball history. She is now a reporter/producer for MLB.com. She earned her master's degree in Sports Management from Cal State Long Beach. She graduated from New York University in 2014 with a bachelor's in History and a minor in American Studies. She's an avid Springsteen fan, which is a big boost to her baseball writer cred.