Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers dropped another extra-inning contest last night, as the bats went mostly quiet again and Kenley Jansen surrendered a leadoff two-run home run in the 10th. The Dodgers are 2-6 in their last eight games and no longer have the best record in baseball, as the 14-7 Royals currently have the highest winning percentage. The Dodgers also slipped into a tie for first place in the NL West with the Giants, both at 15-8. It’s not going great.
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| 7:10 PM | Los Angeles | ||
| LF | Winkler (L) | RF | Betts |
| RF | Castellanos | SS | Seager (L) |
| 1B | Votto (L) | 3B | Turner |
| 3B | Moustakas (L) | 1B | Muncy (L) |
| CF | Naquin (L) | C | Smith |
| 2B | Blandino | CF | Taylor |
| C | Barnhart (L) | 2B | Lux (L) |
| SS | Farmer | LF | Beaty (L) |
| P | Hoffman (R) | P | Buehler (R) |
Walker Buehler makes his fifth start of the season. He’s allowed two earned runs in three of his four starts this season, including last time out against the Padres. His last start was his longest of the season, as he completed seven innings after completing six in each of the previous three. Buehler only struck out 12 batters combined in the first three games (four in each game), but struck out nine Padres last time out.
The Reds counter with Jeff Hoffman, a name Dodger fans should be familiar with. Hoffman spent the first five years of his career in Colorado, where he posted a 6.60 ERA and 5.58 FIP in 230 2/3 innings. Getting out of Colorado has been good for Hoffman so far. Hoffman has made four starts this year and currently sports a 2.66 ERA/3.84 FIP. He’s allowed exactly one earned run in three of his four starts and has gone at least five innings three times after being used as a reliever in Colorado in 2020. Hoffman has faced the Dodgers seven times in his career (only two of which have been starts). He’s allowed 25 hits and 13 runs in 18 career innings against the Dodgers. Most of that damage came at Coors, as only three of those appearances (4 1/3 innings) happened in LA.
Hoffman’s peripherals aren’t as shiny as his ERA.
Hoffman ranks in the bottom part of the league in most metrics you don’t want to rank in the bottom part of the league in. He does get a lot of chases but has a high-spin fastball that averages 93.6 MPH, and he throws it 55.9 percent of the time. Opposing batters have a .265 batting average and .449 slugging percentage off his fastball, but his xBA and xSLG are .329 and .594, respectfully.
Justin Turner returns to the lineup after not starting yesterday. This is about as full-strength of a lineup the Dodgers have had in a while, with Matt Beaty starting in left against a righty instead of AJ Pollock. The Reds get a big bat back in their lineup today as Mike Moustakas is back off the IL and starting at third.
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There’s another reason Pollock is off today.
Pollock wasn’t available yesterday and will get an extra day to recover from food poisoning. He will likely be in there tomorrow afternoon in the finale of the series and homestand.
Cody Bellinger will be following Zach McKinstry to Arizona to continue rehab.
Would watch Bellinger explain what 40 percent bodyweight running is.
Joe Kelly is already in Arizona.
Kelly has yet to pitch in a game this year, but could return from shoulder inflammation on this upcoming road trip.
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The Dodgers are still weighing using a spot starter in Milwaukee.
David Price‘s injury throws a wrench into these plans. They could start Mitch White or call up Josiah Gray for his major league debut. They’re in the middle of a two-week stretch without an off day, so getting some of their younger arms an extra day isn’t the worst idea in the world.
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Dave Roberts wisdom.
Scoring more runs than the other team seems like a pretty solid way to end a slump, IMO.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PDT and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
