Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Yesterday’s game was predictably frustrating, as one terrible inning spoiled a good Kenta Maeda outing and an excellent all-around game by Cody Bellinger. Today, the Dodgers end April with the middle game of this series in San Francisco.
|
Dodgers |
Giants
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6:45 p.m.
|
San Francisco
|
|||
|
CF
|
Hernández |
2B
|
Panik | |
|
SS
|
Seager |
LF
|
Solarte | |
|
3B
|
Turner |
C
|
Posey | |
|
RF
|
Bellinger |
1B
|
Belt | |
|
1B
|
Freese |
3B
|
Longoria | |
|
2B
|
Muncy |
SS
|
Crawford | |
|
LF
|
Taylor | CF | Pillar | |
|
C
|
Barnes |
RF
|
Duggar | |
|
P
|
Buehler (R) |
P
|
Pomeranz (L) |
Walker Buehler gets his sixth start of the season today. He’s had a bit of a rough year overall with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.167 WHIP in 24 innings so far. He’s allowed five runs in a game twice this season, matching the number of times that happened in 24 outings in 2018. Buehler’s last start was a weird one, as he allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings in Chicago. He allowed a ton of loud contact and only struck out one batter, but all three runs came on one terrible pitch to Javier Baez to end his outing. He kept the Dodgers in the game just long enough for the bullpen to allow three more runs to score three batters after he was pulled.
Buehler only saw the Giants once in 2018 and allowed two runs in the first inning, but limited the Giants to those two runs in five innings while picking up six strikeouts. The Dodgers also gave Buehler nine runs of support in those five innings (and 15 runs in the game), so they should do that again imo.
Drew Pomeranz makes his sixth start as a Giant today. Pomeranz signed with the Giants after a bad year in Boston, where he bounced between the rotation and bullpen and posted a 6.08 ERA/5.43 FIP in 74 innings. So far this season, Pomeranz owns a 3.65 ERA/4.30 FIP and a 1.378 WHIP in 24 2/3 innings. He’s coming off his best start of the season, as he blanked the Blue Jays and allowed only two hits through six innings.
So far this season, Pomeranz has been running the highest strikeout rate of his career at 26.7 percent. He’s currently throwing a curveball more often than he ever has and at 41.4 percent, it’s the pitch he throws most often. He mostly attacks with the curveball and four-seam fastball (36.4 percent, averages 91.6 MPH), but also features a sinker and cutter. He’s also thrown exactly two sliders and two change-ups this season.
The Dodgers roll out a different lineup with a lefty on the hill. Enrique Hernandez starts in center and leads off. Max Muncy starts at second with David Freese starting at first, and Chris Taylor gets the start in left. For the Giants, last night’s hero Evan Longoria starts at third. Steven Duggar returns to the lineup after not starting the last three games with an injury suffered tripping over that stadium’s stupid bullpens.
——
As reported yesterday, A.J. Pollock was placed on the IL today.
Pollock is reportedly back in LA having his infected elbow tested. Surgery is a possibility.
Dustin wrote earlier today about how this should give Alex Verdugo (who’s out of the lineup today, good job Dustin) ample time to show what he can do.
Meanwhile, Matt Beaty has been called up for the first time in his five-year career. The lefty has a .277/.355/.434 triple slash in 93 Triple-A plate appearances this season. So far this season, Beaty has played 75 innings at first base, 49 at third base and 48 in left. Beaty is Dustin’s 19th-ranked prospect on his 2019 Top 100.
——
I’ll say it. Bellinger is good.
——
If you’re going to read one thing today not from Dodgers Digest dot com, grab some tissue and read this.
