Dodgers @ D’backs August 9, 2017: Wood vs. Greinke

(Via)

The Dodgers (79-33) and the Diamondbacks (64-48) square off once again, with the Dodgers taking another shot at being the first team to 80 wins this year. Alex Wood (2.33 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 3.11 DRA), who’s been dealing with fatigue, will take the mound with hopes of rediscovering some of the speed he’s been missing in his past couple of starts.

Dodgers
D’backs
6:40 PM PT
Arizona
LF
Taylor
LF
Peralta
SS
 Seager
2B
 Rosales
3B
Turner
CF
Pollock
1B
Bellinger
1B
 Goldschmidt
C
Grandal
RF
Martinez
2B
Utley
SS
Marte
CF
Pederson 3B Lamb
RF
Puig
C
Mathis
P
Wood (L)
P
Greinke (R)

Wood’s velocity has been declining as the season progresses, as Brim noted on Twitter last week:

The Dodgers considered skipping Wood’s start, but a mechanical adjustment brought life back to his fastball. Instead, they shuffled the rotation to push him back a bit, and he’ll be pitching on six days’ rest today. It should be noted that for the entire season, the Dodgers have been playing it somewhat cautious with Wood, as he’s made most of his 2017 starts on more days of rest than the traditional four.

Six of Wood’s 17 starts have come on six days’ rest, while seven of his starts have been on five days’ rest. While the sample size isn’t huge, it’s worth noting that Wood has gotten much better results on six days’ rest than he has on five days’ rest. On six days’ rest this year, Wood has a 2.27 ERA in 35.2 IP, and he’s struck out 39 batters versus eight walks. Batters are hitting .183/.243/.254 against him in such games. On five days’ rest, he has a 3.76 ERA in 40.2 IP, and he’s struck out 40 batters versus 11 walks. Batters are hitting .264/.320/.396 in such games.

Wood has faced the D’backs three times this year, and he’s allowed just four runs across 15 innings. His most recent start against them came on July 5 in Los Angeles, and he pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out 10.

Zack Greinke (3.10 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 2.55 DRA) will start against his former team for the second time this year, and the fourth time since he became a Diamondback. He has not fared well when he’s gone up against the Dodgers:

We’ll see if his former team can bring the pain again tonight.

——

We got updates on injured Dodgers Clayton KershawAndre Ethier and Julio Urías today:

Scott Kazmir was also present in the Dodgers’ clubhouse this afternoon.

Yu Darvish will be making his Dodger Stadium debut a week from today:

https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/895431214169038848

That’ll be a good one to snag tickets for.

Here’s a full look at the rotation for the upcoming week:

Finally, in case you missed it, the Dodgers revealed the nicknames they’ll be using for Players Weekend later this month. Dustin highlighted the best ones earlier today.

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.