Rangers @ Dodgers June 13, 2021: Dunning vs. Buehler in pitchers’ duel?

After Trevor Bauer shat the bed last night against the lowly Rangers, the Dodgers are looking to take the rubber game of this 3-game interleague series. Walker Buehler gets the ball for LA, while Dane Dunning gets the call for Texas.

	1:10 p.m.		Los Angeles
SS	Kiner-Falefa	CF	Betts
LF	Calhoun	SS	Lux
CF	García	2B	Taylor
RF	Gallo	1B	Beaty
1B	Lowe	LF	Pollock
2B	Solak	3B	McKinstry
3B	Holt	RF	Raley
C	Heim	C	Barnes
P	Dunning (R)	P	Buehler (R)

Buehler is making his 13th start of the season, and he’s been kinda flying under the radar. He owns a 2.56 ERA, 3.66 FIP and a 19.6 K-BB%. His strikeouts have been down a bit this season, as he’s running a career-low 24.3 K% (8.38 K/9, if you’re into that sort of thing). A quick peek at his other numbers shows his average velocity is down across the board.

Year	v4FB	vSL	vCB	vCT	vSI
2020	96.8	87.5	81.9	92.7	97.2
2021	95.3	85.5	80.4	91.7	95.1
Difference	-1.5	-2.0	-1.5	-1.0	-1.1

This could explain his lack of strikeouts (compared to his career), but it isn’t like he’s getting hit terribly hard otherwise. His average exit velocity against is 89 MPH — down 1 MPH from last season, and his average launch angle is down almost 6 degrees. Despite that, his FIP is would be the highest of his career (full seasons only) , yet his ERA would be the lowest. This might warrant a deeper dive, but Buehler is still getting outs, even if his numbers are a bit off from what we’ve come to expect. Luckily for him, he’ll be facing a Rangers’ offense that’s in the bottom-third of baseball in a lot of categories: wRC+, OPS, runs scored, SwStr% and more.

Dunning, acquired from the White Sox in the Lance Lynn trade in December, is also making his 13th start of the season. He has pitched to a 4.26 ERA, but a very healthy 2.92 FIP. He’s good at keeping the ball in the yard (4 HR in 57 IP) and can miss some bats. He has faced a lot of strong offenses (Anaheim, Houston, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Toronto), so his numbers might be skewed in the negative direction a bit more than they could be.

The Dodgers are running out a Jim Tracy-esque lineup on this Sunday. Coincidentally or not, Dave Roberts played with the Dodgers while Tracy was manager. Justin Turner is getting a planned day off, while Cody Bellinger is still ailing a bit (but available to pinch-hit). The only true regulars in the lineup are Mookie Betts, Gavin Lux and Chris Taylor. Let’s see how this goes.

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Corey Seager remains on track to take batting practice this week. He'll start in the cage and then advance to hitting on the field.

— Matthew Moreno (@Matthew__Moreno) June 13, 2021

Getting Corey Seager back sooner than expected would be quite good. Still, let’s hope the Dodgers don’t rush him back.

Dave Roberts said the #Dodgers are hopeful Corey Knebel can return by middle of August

— Blake Harris (@BlakeHHarris) June 13, 2021

I honestly didn’t expect Corey Knebel back this season.

Speaking of all the injuries…

Decided to keep track of all the Dodgers’ injured list stints this season, all in one place for easy reference. It’s a lot https://t.co/ymiTYhaooy

— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) June 13, 2021

Eric is truly the best.

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Dodgers/Rangers this weekend is the first time in MLB history teams have split back-to-back games with 12-1 scores.

— Joe Davis (@Joe_Davis) June 13, 2021

If it goes that way again, let’s hope it’s in the Dodgers’ favor.

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First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Pacific time.