Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers split a doubleheader with the Cubs yesterday. Both were 1-run contests. The great comeback in Game 1 would exciting while Game 2 was relatively boring. But hey, Rich Hill looked good! The rubber game comes at the all too familiar 11:20 a.m. start time.
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Dodgers
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Cubs
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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11:20 AM
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Chicago
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SS
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Taylor |
3B
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Bryant | |
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CF
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Hernandez |
RF
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Heyward | |
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3B
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Turner |
2B
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Zobrist | |
| LF | Kemp |
1B
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Rizzo | |
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2B
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Forsythe |
CF
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Almora | |
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1B
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Muncy |
LF
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Schwarber | |
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C
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Grandal | C | Contreras | |
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RF
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Puig |
SS
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Baez | |
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P
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Stripling (R)
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P
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Lester (L)
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Ross Stripling, the staff ace, is looking to keep things going against a solid Cubs’ lineup. He had a 0.59 ERA, 2.05 FIP and a pretty good 17.5 K-BB% as a reliever. Since moving into the rotation. he’s given up a for more runs on average (2.05 ERA, 2.53 FIP), but his strikeout number has risen (27 percent to 30.7 percent), but he stopped walking hitters. His 9.5 percent rate as a reliever was a tad high, but his 2.5 percent as a starter is elite. His K-BB% is 28.1 percent. Among starters with 50 or more innings pitched, Stripling ranks third behind Max Scherzer (33.1) and Gerrit Cole (28.3). If he keeps this up, he’s going to find himself in Washington D.C. for the All-Star Game.
Also, Daniel wrote about Stripling’s cutter/slider hybrid today over at The Athletic. It’s $3.99 a month. I don’t want to hear any complaints about the paywall.
The lineup looks similar to the Game 2 lineup from last night. The main differences are Justin Turner is back in the No. 3 spot at third base and Yasmani Grandal is behind the plate. The order is a bit different, but the players are similar. It’s still funny to see a guy like Yasiel Puig batting eighth in any lineup. Here’s hoping they can get to Jon Lester, a guy off whom they scored seven runs last season in nine innings. They also got Lester out after just 4 2/3 innings in the NLCS (thanks to five walks), but they scored just one run against him.
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Pitching probables for Dodgers-Mets this weekend:
FRI: Wood/Wheeler
SAT: Ferguson/deGrom
SUN: Hill/Vargas— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) June 20, 2018
Clayton Kershaw will make a 4-inning rehab start for Oklahoma City this weekend. There had been talk he might start this weekend against the Mets. They’ll still see all lefties, but it’ll be in the form of Alex Wood, Caleb Ferguson and Hill. With two of the Mets’ better hitters being Michael Conforto (.724 OPS) and Brandon Nimmo (.801 OPS vs. LHP, 1.086 OPS vs. RHP), that bodes well for the Dodgers. What doesn’t bode well is their facing future Dodger Jacob deGrom. He’s, like, really good.
Clayton Kershaw has started one game for the @Dodgers since May 1. Yet, they are tied for the NL’s best record (26-17) over those seven weeks. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 20, 2018
Coming soon to a blog near you, “The Dodgers are better without Clayton Kershaw”.
(Not really.)
Brock Stewart, losing pitcher in yesterday’s second game as the 26th man, was returned to OKC.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) June 20, 2018
No surprise here. The back and forth for Brock Stewart has to be maddening. Also, his stuff backing up is also frustrating. Here’s hoping he can, somehow, rediscover it and be a quality pitcher either later this season or next season.
