Dodgers @ Rockies May 13, 2017: Southpaws Battle

Yesterday the Dodgers won decisively over the Rockies and evened the series at one apiece. Tonight they’ll have their work cut out for them as they face their kryptonite: a left-handed pitcher. Tyler Anderson isn’t exactly the best southpaw they’ll ever see, but he’s coming off his best start of the season and arguably his career. Earlier this week in Denver, he struck out ten Diamondbacks and walked one in six innings, while allowing just one run. His only start against the Dodgers this year was not as successful, as he gave up five runs in five innings the last time they were in Denver. Anderson features an unusual pitch mixture: a fourseam and changeup that he has been using about evenly, along with a cut fastball to supplement them against left-handed batters in particular.

As the Dodgers usually do, the lineup has been rearranged for the left-handed starting pitcher. Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson are both sitting today in favor of Brett Eibner and Enrique Hernandez. Chase Utley gets a day off as well, with Cody Bellinger starting at first and Franklin Gutierrez (back from hip tightness) starting in left field.

Puig sitting sticks out beyond the normal lineup shuffling because he’s right-handed. He also had a day off last week. Puig has reverse splits for the year, but they’re not likely to last. He had a good game yesterday but still didn’t look like he was seeing the ball well, and is hitting just .218/.232/.345 in 56 PA since April 27th. Arbitrary endpoints, sure, but his previous excellent plate discipline was not faring well in that stretch either (15 K, 1 BB which happened yesterday).

Opposing Anderson in tonight’s southpaw battle is Alex Wood, who is also coming off an excellent outing. Wood struck out 11 Pirates in five innings of work in his last start. The “five innings” part is still the biggest concern with him, though in that particular game against the Pirates he was removed earlier than he needed to be due to a lopsided score. Wood has not pitched in Denver since April 24, 2016, which was one of his final speedbumps before settling into being an excellent pitcher (prior to injury). He gave up five runs in five innings, striking out five and walking three. A bad start, sure, though not necessarily predictive of what will happen tonight.

In injury news, Logan Forsythe appears to be close to another rehab assignment:

Logan Forsythe will play in a rehab game on Tuesday. Dave Roberts hopes he’ll be back during the next homestand. It’s a long homestand.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) May 13, 2017

Forsythe’s previous rehab assignment was cut short by hamstring issues. Fortunately, Chris Taylor‘s emergence and Chase Utley’s hot streak have helped to cushion the blow of Forsythe’s departure, though the Dodgers should not necessarily depend on either of them continuing long-term.