Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (41-25) had a relatively close game last night with the Reds (23-44), until they put up four runs in the eighth and secured the 8-2 win. They did so with 17 hits while allowing just five. Tony Gonsolin battled some early traffic and gave up solo home runs to both Jonathan India and Albert Almora Jr. but managed to get through five innings allowing just those two runs. The team will go for the series win today with Tyler Anderson on the mound against the dangerous right-hander, Luis Castillo.
 |
 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:40 PM | Cincinnati | ||
| SS | T. Turner | 2B | India |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | DH | Drury |
| C | Smith | LF | Pham |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | 1B | Votto (L) |
| LF | Taylor | SS | Farmer |
| DH | J. Turner | 3B | Solano |
| CF | Bellinger (L) | RF | Reynolds |
| RF | Alvarez (L) | CF | Almora Jr. |
| 2B | Lux (L) | C | Garcia |
| P | Anderson (L) | P | Castillo (R) |
Both lineups are very similar to yesterday. Cody Bellinger moves down in the lineup one spot while Justin Turner moves up one. Trea Turner is coming off a four hit game, while Freddie Freeman had three hits and five RBI, while Chris Taylor continued his solid season with three hits and two doubles. Gavin Lux went 2-3 and is hitting .291 with a .364 OBP. For the Reds, Mike Moustakas will slide to the bench against the left-handed Anderson, as will Nick Senzel, while Donovan Solano and Matt Reynolds start in their places. Solano will be playing his first game with the Reds as he was just reinstated from the 60-day IL. The Reds signed him to a one year-deal coming off a solid season with the Giants.
——
Here’s how Anderson and Castillo matchup.
Anderson (8-0) earned the win during Wednesday’s 4-1 victory against the Angels, unfortunately allowing one run on two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in 8.1 innings, taking a no-hitter (at the time) into the ninth.
Following a poor outing against the White Sox in his last start, Anderson allowed a one-out Shohei Ohtani triple in the ninth inning and was then pulled at 123 pitches. He likely wouldn’t have been in the game at that point if the Jared Walsh play had been ruled a hit at the time. Regardless, he was excellent once again as he has been in most of his starts this season. In total, his eight strikeouts match his season high, while the 88 game score is his highest of the year, passing the eight inning scoreless start he had in Washington a month ago. With a record of 8-0, he will look to earn his ninth win of the season and match Gonsolin for the most in baseball. Here’s how his Statcast profile looks. He’s not the best pitcher in baseball, but he’s been one of the top twenty by almost all marks.
For Castillo, last time out he allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six across seven innings against the Diamondbacks. He allowed all three runs in the second inning, but was excellent after that. Despite the rocky beginning to that outing, he’s still allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his eight starts this season. The right-hander relies on four pitches, with his fastball and sinker both being thrown nearly a quarter of the time in the high 90’s. His two off-speed pitches are the changeup that he throws nearly 30% of the time in the mid 80’s, and a slider that he throws in the high 80’s. He has two years of control left, under contract for the remainder of this and next season, and with Cincinnati essentially tanking, he’d be a high priority trade target for any contender looking for starting pitching.
——
If Stefen Romero makes an appearance, it will be his first since 2016 in Seattle. He has a .797 OPS in AAA this season. He’s been in Japan for the previous five seasons, so maybe he’ll get a brief shot. Or he’s just a last resort on the roster which is much more likely.
——
I have mixed feelings about this. Just my opinion as usual, but I would prefer the team look to James Outman (139 wRC+, .946 OPS) in AA with above-average defense in the outfield over rushing up a young third-base prospect with no outfield experience. Maybe it’s just to add positional versatility and unrelated to anything else. Additionally, Outman is already on the 40-man roster.
——
Good to see Caleb Ferguson looking healthy, and Blake Treinen getting healthy.
——
First pitch is at 3:40 PM PDT on SNLA.
