Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers survived their emotional pre-game ring ceremony and an impressive Joe Ross outing, as they defeated the Nationals in the home opener. Today the Dodgers look for their third series win of the season and their second win in a row.
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| 6:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| CF | Robles | CF | Taylor |
| SS | Turner | SS | Seager (L) |
| RF | Soto (L) | 3B | Turner |
| 1B | Zimmerman | C | Smith |
| 3B | Castro | 1B | Muncy (L) |
| 2B | Mercer | LF | Pollock |
| C | Gomes | 2B | Lux (L) |
| LF | Perez | RF | Mckinstry (L) |
| P | Corbin (L) | P | Urias (L) |
Julio Urias takes the ball for the Dodgers and is coming off the best start of his career. Urias completed seven full innings for the first time in his career, holding the Rockies to three hits, one run and one walk at Coors Field. Urias held the Rockies scoreless through seven but allowed a single to start the eighth, which scored after Jimmy Nelson allowed a double to Garrett Hampson. Urias has been excellent over the past three years at limiting hard-contact, and he did so in his first start of the season this year. Statcast had Urias at a 24.9 percent hard-hit rate in 2019 (first percentile) and 28.6 percent in 2020 (ninth percentile). Urias only surrendered two hard-hit balls out of 18 batted balls in his first start (defined by Statcast as an exit velocity above 95.5 MPH). Of course, the hardest-hit ball against him was by opposing pitcher Austin Gomber.
Opposing Urias is Patrick Corbin, a late announcement sparked by needing to activate him from the IL. Corbin was one of a group of four Nationals that were deemed close contacts to a positive COVID-19 case, but is clear and back active. It’ll be Corbin’s season debut coming off a rough 2020. After receiving Cy Young votes in 2018 and 2019, Corbin posted a 4.66 ERA/4.17 FIP in 11 starts in 2020. He allowed 85 hits last year in 65 2/3 innings, the most hits among qualified starters in baseball. His 3.62 BABIP against from 2020 should come back down a bit this season, but Corbin generated the fifth-worst soft-contact rate last season (13.8 percent) and had both the lowest ground-ball rate (43.7 percent) and the highest line drive rate (25.6 percent) of his career. The former Diamondback is very familiar with Dodger Stadium, as Corbin has a 2.97 ERA in 60 2/3 innings (11 starts) in LA.
Mookie Betts remains out of the lineup today as Zach McKinstry starts in right field. Dave Roberts said Betts isn’t expected to be an IL situation.
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The Dodgers made a roster move today.
The Dodgers claimed Ashton Goudeau and added him to the 40-man roster. Goudeau was part of the Royals and Mariners systems for a bit before being signed by Colorado in 2018. He made his major league debut last year with the Rockies, and allowed 15 hits and seven runs in 8 1/3 innings. The Dodgers saw him in Colorado, and he allowed three hits, two walks and two homers in his inning at Coors. Since the end of last offseason, Goudeau has been signed by and waived by the Pirates, Orioles and Giants. He might not be long for the Dodgers, but if would be extra hilarious if he turned into a relief ace after the Pirates and Orioles were like “nah, we’re good”.
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Brusdar Graterol threw a simulated game today.
There’s still no timetable on a return for Graterol, but he was able to get some work in today. He reportedly threw 15 pitches and came out of it healthy.
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First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 PM PST and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
