Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers saw their eight-game win streak snapped last night, as the bats went quiet and Trevor Bauer took his first ever loss against Houston. With a Padres loss earlier today, the Dodgers sit one game behind San Diego for the best record in the NL West and in baseball. They’re tied with the Giants for second in the West, and the two teams kick off a four-game set today. They haven’t seen each other since last weekend, where the Dodgers swept a three-game series in San Francisco and outscored the Giants 19-9. The Giants rebounded by sweeping a two-game series in Arizona, and now get their first trip to Los Angeles in 2021.
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| 7:10 PM | Los Angeles | ||
| CF | Slater | RF | Betts |
| RF | Yastrzemski (L) | 3B | Turner |
| 2B | Solano | SS | Taylor |
| LF | Dickerson (L) | 2B | Muncy (L) |
| 3B | Longoria | 1B | Pujols |
| SS | Crawford (L) | C | Barnes |
| C | Casali | LF | Neuse |
| 1B | Vosler (L) | CF | Peters |
| P | Wood (L) | P | Price (L) |
The Dodgers are going with a bullpen game today, and David Price will be the starter. Price started a bullpen game a week ago against Arizona and allowed three hits in two shutout innings. He appeared in the finale of the series in San Francisco and allowed one hit in one inning. He’s made three appearances since returning from the IL and hasn’t allowed a run in any of them. The rest of the Dodger bullpen should be pretty fresh.
Last time Price started a bullpen game, Jimmy Nelson gave the Dodgers two innings. Nelson’s arm flared up after that outing and he hit the IL on Sunday, with Phil Bickford taking his spot. Nate Jones and Dennis Santana threw 21 and 14 pitches yesterday, respectively. The Dodgers don’t have another day off until Thursday, so they’re slated to need another bullpen game Tuesday against the Cardinals. This many bullpen games this early in the season isn’t ideal, so here’s hoping Tony Gonsolin is back sooner rather than later.
Alex Wood starts against the Dodgers for the second straight time. Wood started the series-opener last Friday and took his first loss of the season. He was pretty sharp, as he allowed two runs and struck out seven in six innings. He did allow eight hits and issued two walks as the Dodgers had at least one baserunner in each of Wood’s six innings. It was probably Wood’s worst start of the season, which shows how good he’s been in 2021. He’s allowed nine runs in seven starts and has yet to allow more than two in a game. He’s also completed six or more innings in five of his seven outings, with the only exceptions being his first start of the season off an injury and a five-inning start in a seven-inning game at Coors Field.
Among pitchers with 40 or more innings pitched, Wood’s 59.6 percent ground ball rate is the second highest in all of baseball. Baseball Savant also has Wood as the pitcher with the best barrel rate in baseball with a 1.8 percent Barrel/Plate Appearance rate.
Gavin Lux and Will Smith get the day off, with Chris Taylor getting the start at short and Austin Barnes starting behind the plate. Sheldon Neuse starts in center with DJ Peters manning center. The Dodgers first base depth has taken a hit as Brandon Belt and Darin Ruf are both on the IL. Justin Vosler, whose first career home run gave the Giants a win yesterday, gets the start at first. Buster Posey sits as Curt Casali starts behind the plate.
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Big day for running.
AJ Pollock and Corey Seager were both running on the field before the game. Pollock is recovering from a hamstring injury, and could need some rehab games before returning.
This lineup would look quite a bit better with Cody Bellinger in it.
Bellinger is set to return Saturday against the Giants.
The Dodgers may finally be getting some reinforcements to avoid bullpen games all season.
Tony Gonsolin starts for Triple A OKC tomorrow and will need one more rehab start before being ready to rejoin the rotation.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PDT and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
