Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Well everyone, we made it. Game 162 is here, ending what has been a great regular season for the Dodgers. With a win today, they’ll set the franchise record for wins in a season at 106. With a win over the Angels yesterday, the Houston Astros clinched Home Field Advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs should they make it. The Dodgers will finish with the second best record in the MLB, regardless of the outcome today. Rich Hill will be on the mound to close out the season against Dereck Rodriguez.
|
Dodgers |
Giants
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12:05 p.m.
|
San Francisco
|
|||
|
RF
|
Taylor |
2B
|
Dubon | |
|
3B
|
Muncy |
CF
|
Yastrzemski | |
|
LF
|
Pollock |
C
|
Posey | |
|
1B
|
Bellinger |
3B
|
Longoria | |
|
SS
|
Seager |
LF
|
Slater | |
|
C
|
Smith |
1B
|
Belt | |
|
2B
|
Lux |
RF
|
Davis | |
|
CF
|
Hernandez | SS | Crawford | |
|
P
|
Hill (L) |
P
|
Rodriguez (R) |
Joc Pederson will take the day off, while the majority of the starters will remain in the lineup for game 162. However, Justin Turner is still not in the lineup, so it appears he’ll be resting until the NLDS begins next Thursday. Cody Bellinger will play first base today with Enrique Hernandez in center. Max Muncy will start at third in Turner’s absence, with Corey Seager and Gavin Lux continuing to man the middle infield.
——
Rich Hill will be wrapping up the regular season as he continues to show that he’s healthy enough to pitch in the postseason. Hill pitched most recently on Tuesday against the Padres, throwing two scoreless innings while striking out five and walking two, Over the last three seasons, Hill has been the Dodgers best postseason starter, with a collective 2.66 ERA over 47 innings while striking out 60. All he needs to do today is show that he’s healthy. He’s a huge addition to the pitching staff in a starting or relief role in the postseason. Against a mediocre at best offense, Hill looks to build upon his previous start against the Padres as the Dodgers close out their season.
Dereck Rodriguez has had a disappointing 2019 after having a very impressive 2018 season (2.81 ERA, 3.74 FIP). He features a 5.27 ERA and a 5.58 FIP over 97.1 innings this year. Among 141 pitchers with at least 90 innings pitched, his ERA is 118th, while his FIP is 131st. If you go by FIP-, he’s 139th of those 141. He sits 90-92 with his fastball, mixing in a changeup, curve, and slider all equally. He’s allowed an .823 OPS to left-handed batters this season with a 6.45 FIP against them, making this an unfavorable matchup for Rodriguez.
——
Joe Kelly being alive will help the bullpen, which is undoubtedly going to be nerve-wracking this postseason.
Franchise Records are nice, and I’d love to see them do this, but health is the priority today with nothing on the line.
——
First pitch is at 12:05 PT on SNLA.
