Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Brock Stewart draws what could be final start of the season against the Diamondbacks tonight. He’s starting in place of Bud Norris, who is not a good pitcher.
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Dodgers
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D’backs
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5:10 PM PST
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Arizona
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2B
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Utley
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2B
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Segura | |
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SS
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Seager |
SS
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Owings | |
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3B
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Turner |
1B
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Goldschmidt | |
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1B
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Gonzalez
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3B
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Lamb | |
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RF
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Reddick |
C
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Castillo | |
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CF
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Pederson |
RF
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Tomas | |
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LF
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Toles | LF | Drury | |
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C
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Ruiz |
CF
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Haniger | |
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P
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Stewart (R)
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P
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Miller (R)
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Norris, in 42 innings of work, has a 6.43 ERA and 4.88 FIP since being acquired from Atlanta. His strikeout rate is solid (22.1 percent), but he just doesn’t miss enough barrels to be an effective starter. He might have better luck out of the bullpen, but the odds of him making the postseason roster — at least in this writer’s eyes — are slim.
Stewart faced the D’backs 10 days ago at Dodger Stadium and had himself a solid outing: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Prior to that, he started against the Cubs on Aug. 28 and had the best outing of his career: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K. Chase Field is a launching pad and Stewart has been bitten by the home run ball in his first 22 MLB innings (five home runs allowed), but he’s riding a couple solid outings and he has the stuff to be effective against a potent Arizona lineup.
Brock Stewart's start tonight will be 64th this season for #Dodgers by a rookie, most in majors (A's are 2d at 54). LAD 37-26 in those games
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 17, 2016
That’s a lot of starts by rookies. But this might be his last start because he’s already at 143 innings on the season. His previous career-best is 101 innings, which he reached last season. He is just 24 and a quality pitching prospect, so I wouldn’t expect too many more starts out of him — especially with another starter waiting to be activated.
That pitcher is Brett Anderson, apparently.
Anderson will be activated.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) September 17, 2016
Yes, he of the disastrous two starts last month. He started on Friday night for OKC in a playoff game and fared well: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR. It seems the blister has healed well enough to handle Triple-A hitters, but the big question is will Anderson be at all effective for the Dodgers the rest of this season? That remains to be seen.
More news…
Kenley Jansen left the clubhouse last night with his 45th save — and a brace on his wrist: https://t.co/0iMgp4WNxg pic.twitter.com/pNW8zn2gXV
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) September 17, 2016
Oh. That’s not good. Kenley Jansen says he’s fine and Dave Roberts says he’s available tonight, but this is still a bit disconcerting. Here’s hoping the Dodgers won’t have to rely on him too much down the stretch (spoiler alert: they will).
Yasmani Grandal is getting the day off due to lingering soreness in his right elbow.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) September 17, 2016
Also not great news. Yasmani Grandal has struggled in his last 10 games (.121/.121/.242, 0 BB, 12 K), so perhaps this is the reason why. It could also be a case of arbitrary endpoints. No way to know.
"This team is maybe the grittiest team I've seen in a long time here."-Ned Colletti
— Stacie Wheeler (@StacieMWheeler) September 17, 2016
Sorry, Ned, nothing is as gritty as having Mark Ellis, Nick Punto, Skip Schumaker and Michael Young on the same playoff roster.
Finally, this is fun.
— Dolphin Pilot (@TheAmitie) September 17, 2016
Which stems from this…
[table id=5/]It has happened. Sorry, @TheAmitie. pic.twitter.com/HDqmPVIkYd
— Sarah Wexler (@SarahWexler32) September 17, 2016
