Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
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D-backs
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Dodgers
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6:10 p.m. PT
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Los Angeles
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| SS | Segura | 2B | Utley | |
| 2B | Drury | SS | Seager | |
| 1B | Goldschmidt | 3B | Turner | |
| LF | Weeks | 1B | Gonzalez | |
| C | Castillo | LF | Kendrick | |
| RF | Tomas | C | Grandal | |
| 3B | Lamb | RF | Toles | |
| CF | Owings | CF | Pederson | |
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P
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Shipley (R)
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P
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Kazmir (L)
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Last night’s game will be a hard act to top. The Dodgers won in dramatic fashion, and will look to follow that up with another win against Diamondbacks starter Braden Shipley. Shipley was the Diamondbacks’ first-rounder in 2013 (selected three spots before Chris Anderson) and made his first career start last week against the Brewers. Shipley allowed six runs in 5-1/3 innings while walking four, striking out four, and allowing three dingers. Shipley was Baseball America’s number 77 prospect entering this season. His fastball, curveball, and changeup (his only three pitches) all received above-average grades from the right side, but his control scored a below-average 45 (though it appeared to take a step forward in his minor league time this season). In his first outing, Shipley’s fastball averaged a little over 92 and touched 95.
The Dodgers will counter Shipley with the same lineup which piled nine runs on last night. Notably, that means no Yasiel Puig again, though Dave Roberts mentioned that Puig may start tomorrow against lefty Patrick Corbin.
Scott Kazmir will take the rubber for the Dodgers. Kazmir’s start earlier this week continued his confounding season thus far, and he lasted only five innings while allowing three runs. On balance, Kazmir’s numbers aren’t that bad (111 ERA-/105 FIP-/103 DRA-, each good for 1-1.5 WAR in their respective metrics), but the inconsistency is getting pretty frustrating. Kazmir is averaging less than five and a half innings per start, with pretty wide variations on either side of that number. It would be easier to feel good about him being a number three type starter if he could actually string together a few quality starts. For now, the Dodgers will continue to ride the roller coaster and hope he doesn’t leave more changeups over the plate.
After yesterday’s flurry of trade rumors, today has been very quiet with respect to the Dodgers. Perhaps the most significant Dodger-related news (other than the Matt Kemp–Hector Olivera swap) is that Wade Davis is returning to Kansas City for an MRI on his elbow. Davis was already a risky name on the Dodgers’ list, but it’s safe to assume that he’s been crossed off of said list now.
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