Dodgers @ Marlins July 16, 2017: Hill for yet another sweep

The Dodgers (63-29) beat the Marlins (41-48) Friday in thrilling comeback fashion. They beat them last night handily and definitively. Today, the Boys in Blue have a chance to go for their ninth win in a row and third consecutive sweep, and they’ll look to Rich Hill (3.69 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 5.10 DRA) to help get them there.

	Dodgers			Marlins
	1o:10 AM PST			Miami
2B	Forsythe		3B	Prado
SS	Seager		RF	Stanton
3B	Turner		CF	Yelich
1B	Bellinger		LF	Ozuna
LF	Taylor		1B	Moore
C	Barnes		2B	Dietrich
RF	Hernández		C	Ellis
CF	Thompson		SS	Riddle
P	Hill (L)		P	O’Grady (L)

Hill has been pitching very well of late. He’s lasted seven innings in each of his last three starts after failing to go more than five innings in any of his first nine games. In Hill’s four most recent starts, he’s given up just five runs in 26 IP, with 35 strikeouts versus six walks. Batters have hit .154/.220/.264 against him in that span.

Chris O’Grady (5.66 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 7.65 DRA) gets the ball for just the second start of his major league career. The 27-year-old lefty made his major league debut last Saturday against the Giants, and he allowed three runs in 5.1 IP.

O’Grady was an Angels 10th-round draft pick in 2012, and he stayed in their farm system until he was released this April. Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel provided this account of how O’Grady ended up with the Marlins:

O’Grady’s improbable ascent began with a phone call to Scott Budner, New Orleans’ pitching coach who worked with O’Grady last year in the Angels’ system. O’Grady was hoping for a tryout. Forty-eight hours later, on May 6, he had a contract and was slated to join the rotation in Double-A Jacksonville.
Before even getting to Jacksonville, a bullpen spot in New Orleans opened up, so O’Grady went there instead. Three appearances later, he wound up in the Triple-A rotation. A month and a half later, the bump up to the big leagues.
“And here I am,” O’Grady said.

O’Grady had a 3.29 ERA in 54.2 IP for the Baby Cakes this season, with 54 strikeouts versus 15 walks. He has a career 3.24 ERA in the minors, and a career 22.1% K rate. He’s worked as a reliever for much of his career, although since joining the Marlins’ organization, he’s been used primarily as a starter. John Sickels of Minor League Ball had this to say about O’Grady’s stuff:

He isn’t a hard-thrower: his fastball is generally in the upper 80s with peaks at 90-91. He relies heavily on his cutter and sometimes throws it more than the fastball. He also has a curveball and change-up; both off-speed pitches were considered below-average earlier in his career but he’s made enough progress with them to be a viable Triple-A starter. O’Grady has had persistent reverse platoon splits over the last three seasons, meaning he isn’t an ideal LOOGY. Using him as a starter in Triple-A made sense, in other words.

Trayce Thompson is in center field and Enrique Hernández is in right, spelling Joc Pederson (as someone usually does with a lefty on the mound) and Yasiel Puig. Old friend A.J. Ellis is catching today for Miami, his second time starting against the Dodgers in his career.

——

Another update on Adrían González, who took forty swings off a tee yesterday:

Adrian Gonzalez graduated to tee and toss today. He took 60 swings.

— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) July 16, 2017