Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
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Padres
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m. PT
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Los Angeles
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| CF | Upton | 2B | Kendrick | |
| 1B | Myers | SS | Seager | |
| RF | Kemp | 3B | Turner | |
| 3B | Solarte | 1B | Gonzalez | |
| C | Norris | RF | Puig | |
| LF | Dickerson | CF | Thompson | |
| SS | Ramirez | LF | Van Slyke | |
| 2B | Schimpf | C | Ellis | |
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P
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Pomeranz (L)
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P
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Ryu (L)
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Hyun-jin Ryu missed the entire 2015 season with shoulder issues. His road to recovery in 2016 has included several setbacks. But at long last, Ryu is back in the Dodgers’ rotation. Dustin wrote earlier today about keeping expectations for Ryu reasonable as he makes his long-awaited return. Among other concerns, Ryu has not fully regained his velocity, and it’s unclear when or even if that will happen. He’s not on a pitch limit tonight, although the most he’s thrown in a start this season is 84 (which he did in his final rehab start, on July 1).
While it’s nice for the Dodgers to have numerous options for the starting rotation, the timing of Ryu’s return is honestly sort of unfortunate, since it’s likely he won’t have a long outing, and the Dodgers’ bullpen is worn out from the nine innings they pitched yesterday.
In order to activate Ryu, Will Venable was designated for assignment for the second time in as many weeks. In his second Dodgers stint, he made one start, and did not reach base once in eight plate appearances.
In an attempt to bolster the beleaguered bullpen, Luis Avilan, who pitched one inning in yesterday’s marathon, is going back to Oklahoma City, and Carlos Frias is back on the 25-man roster. Frias started the season at Double-A Tulsa, but has spent most of the year with OKC. He was up with the big club briefly in June, but never made an appearance. He’s worked as both a starter and a reliever in the minors this year, and is a long relief option.
These moves mean that the Dodgers are playing with a three-man bench.
The Dodgers will face Drew Pomeranz, who’s been having a solid season for San Diego. In 16 starts, he has an ERA of 2.65 (3.21 FIP) and a WHIP of 1.09 across 95 IP. The Padres, who are 11 games under .500 as a team, are exactly .500 in his starts — 8-8. He had a very good start against the Dodgers on May 1, pitching seven innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out five. The Padres lost that game, though, because Clayton Kershaw delivered a complete game shutout.
The other big Dodger news of the day is that Corey Seager will take part in the Home Run Derby, which is a thing you may or may not care about.
Here are the participants and bracket for Monday's T-Mobile Home Run Derby. pic.twitter.com/N3TWIKUy4M
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) July 7, 2016
Corey Seager's dad is going to throw to him in the HR Derby.
— Sarah Wexler (@SarahWexler32) July 7, 2016
Asked Seager how he feels going up against MLB home run leader Trumbo. "I'm in trouble." Seager wants to win, but "it'll be fun" either way.
— Sarah Wexler (@SarahWexler32) July 7, 2016
Not to brag, guys, but I tweeted those before all the actual beat writers did. #scooped
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