Giants @ Dodgers July 25, 2020: Wood looks to give the Dodgers their first series win

A pair of Max Muncy dongs and a strong outing by Ross Stripling led the Dodgers to another big victory last night. The Dodgers have outscored the Giants 17-2 in the first two games of the season, which seems good. An old friend makes his return to the mound for the Dodgers today, looking to give the Dodgers their first series victory of 2020.

Giants
Dodgers
1:10 p.m.
Los Angeles
LF
Slater
1B
Muncy
3B
Solano
RF
Betts
2B
Flores
CF
Bellinger
1B
Ruf
3B
Turner
DH
Pence
SS
Seager
CF
Yastrzemski
DH
Taylor
RF
Davis
LF
Pederson
SS
Dubón 2B Hernández
C
Heineman
C
Barnes
P
Webb (R)
P
Wood (L)

Alex Wood starts for the Dodgers tonight, which is not a sentence I thought I would write after 2018. Wood put together a solid season for the Dodgers in 2018, posting a 3.68 ERA/3.53 FIP over 151 2/3 innings. He was traded along with Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp in the offseason, in a move that many were upset about at the time. It brought the Dodgers mainly salary relief, but also brought two soon-to-be top prospects in Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs, who ended up being a key piece of the Mookie Betts trade.

Wood had a rough 2019 in Cincinnati, as he didn’t make his season debut until July 28 and made only seven appearances total due to back issues. Wood allowed at least two runs in each of his seven starts and allowed 23 earned runs in only 35 2/3 innings, good for a 5.80 ERA and 6.38 FIP. He returned to LA in January and there were reports in the spring that he did so because he was told he had a rotation spot here, which sees him starting game three of the 2020 season.

Logan Webb gets the ball for the Giants today. The 22-year-old made his Major League debut last August and threw five innings of one-run ball against Arizona. His other seven starts weren’t quite as sharp and he finished the season with a 5.22 ERA/4.12 FIP. He saw the Dodgers once last season (in his final start of the year) and pitched pretty well, holding the Dodgers to two runs over six innings.

Webb features a fastball, slider, changeup and sinker. He throws his four-seamer 43.8 percent of the time, but his slider was his best pitch last season. He threw it 23.5 percent of the time and opponents managed only six singles off it.

Chris Taylor is in the lineup at DH after taking Pablo Sandoval‘s ass to his face yesterday. Austin Barnes is back behind the plate to catch Wood.

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It was implied yesterday, but the Dodgers have officially set their rotation for their rematch with Houston.

Dustin May will get the start Wednesday, following Walker Buehler making his 2020 debut on Tuesday.

——

Clayton Kershaw played catch.

There’s still no exact date for his return, but he would have been lined up for May’s start on Wednesday.

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Tonight’s game will be broadcast on Fox, so expect some nice features on Sam Coonrod (sorry Joe Davis, don’t hate me). Davis and A.J. Pierzynski will be on the call, and the game will feature virtual fans. That seems to be going well in Chicago.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM PST.

About Alex Campos

I've been writing about the Dodgers since I graduated from Long Beach State, where I covered the Dirtbags in my senior year. I'm either very good or very bad at puns.