Twins @ Dodgers July 25, 2017: Berríos vs. Maeda

Photo: Stacie Wheeler

Coming off of a very nice win last night, the Dodgers (69-31) will try for a series victory tonight against the Twins (48-47). Kenta Maeda (4.23 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 4.48 DRA) is on the mound making his 16th start of the season, and second start post-All Star break.

Twins
Dodgers
7:10 PM PT
Los Angeles
2B
 Dozier
LF
Taylor
CF
Granite
SS
Seager
1B
Mauer
3B
Turner
3B
Sanó
1B
Bellinger
LF
Rosario
C
Grandal
SS
Escobar
CF
Pederson
RF
Kepler 2B Utley
C
Castro
RF
Puig
P
Berríos (R)
P
Maeda (R)

Maeda began July with his worst start of the season, in which he allowed 5 runs in 3.2 IP. He’s somewhat rebounded since then, posting two consecutive starts of five innings and one earned run. Maeda has gone deeper than five innings just three times this year.

José Berríos (3.50 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 3.74 DRA) goes up against the Dodgers for the first time in his career. Berríos, a 23-year-old righty, was a Twins first-round draft pick in 2012. He made his debut last season, and bounced back and forth between MLB and Triple-A, posting an 8.02 ERA across 14 starts for Minnesota. He’s been much better this year, as his strikeouts are up, his walks are down, and he’s inducing groundballs at a heightened clip.

Berríos has a four-pitch mix headlined by a fastball that averages 94 MPH. His secondary pitch is a curveball, and he’s thrown his sinker as fast as 97 MPH this year. He also has a changeup that induces a 14% whiff rate, per Brooks Baseball.

——

With both Clayton Kershaw and Brandon McCarthy on the disabled list, a rotation spot has opened up, and Brock Stewart gets a shot at filling it:

Alex Wood, originally in line to start tomorrow, has been pushed back to Friday.

On the subject of Kershaw, the Dodgers still won’t provide a timetable for him, but he’s begun treatment:

Finally, Adrían González is expected to make a rehab start as soon as next week:

About Sarah Wexler

Sarah Wexler is a native Angeleno and longtime Dodger fan. She began blogging about baseball in 2012 on her Tumblr, New Grass On The Field, where she covered an array of topics but especially enjoyed exploring baseball history. She is now a reporter/producer for MLB.com. She earned her master's degree in Sports Management from Cal State Long Beach. She graduated from New York University in 2014 with a bachelor's in History and a minor in American Studies. She's an avid Springsteen fan, which is a big boost to her baseball writer cred.