Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers followed up a dominant Opening Day win with a slightly less-dominant win in game two against the Cardinals. Bobby Miller absolutely shoved, as he allowed two hits and a walk over six innings with 11 strikeouts. Michael Grove struggled and allowed the Cardinals back in the game, but Evan Phillips closed it out for the Dodgers third win of the season. Tonight, the Dodgers can clinch a series win as they look to tee off against an old friend.
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| 6:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| LF | Donovan (L) | SS | Betts |
| 1B | Goldschmidt | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| 2B | Gorman (L) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 3B | Arenado | C | Smith |
| DH | Carpenter (L) | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| C | Herrera | LF | Hernández, T. |
| RF | Burleson (L) | CF | Outman (L) |
| SS | Crawford (L) | RF | Heyward (L) |
| CF | Scott II (L) | 2B | Lux (L) |
| P | Lynn (R) | P | Yamamoto (R) |
Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes his first start at Dodger Stadium and looks to bounce back from a nightmarish debut in Korea. Yamamoto only lasted an inning against the Padres and didn’t record an out until his fifth batter. His command surprisingly failed him as he hit a batter, issued a walk and threw a wild pitch in his inning of work. He did strike out two batters, but allowed five runs on four hits in a rough debut. Tyler Glasnow also struggled with command in Korea, so it’ll be interesting to see if Yamamoto bounces back as well as Glasnow did in LA.
#Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Yoshinobu Yamamoto feels better with his mechanics coming into this game. He said he expects Yamamoto to have a much better start tonight.
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) March 30, 2024
For what it’s worth, Dave Roberts thinks Yamamoto’s mechanics are in a better place today and expects him to be better today. It would be slightly funny if he believes Yamamoto would throw another clunker.
Lance Lynn was the big trade deadline move of last season for the Dodgers. He was mainly acquired to give the Dodgers someone that could actually eat innings, and in that regard he did his job. He totaled 183 2/3 innings between the White Sox and Dodgers last season. He threw 64 innings in 11 starts as a Dodger and posted a 4.36 ERA in this starts, which isn’t egregiously bad. However, his underlying numbers were much worse as a Dodger despite an ERA over 2 runs lower than his time with the White Sox. His strikeout rate plummeted from 26.9 percent in Chicago to 17.2 percent in LA, and his SIERA went from 3.93 to 5.23. Lynn allowed 16 homers as a Dodger and a league-leading 44 throughout the season. He got the start in game 3 against Arizona in the NLDS and had two solid innings before a third inning implosion. He allowed four solo homers in the third, which were the only runs the Diamondbacks needed to end the Dodger season. He signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals in the offseason (with a team option for next season) and gets the ball in their third game of the season. His Cardinal tenure got off to a wild start as he was ejected from his first Spring game (by Angel Hernandez, of course). He allowed 12 runs in 13 2/3 innings in the Spring, but only allowed one homer.
The Dodgers roll with the same lineup they used in their previous games against right-handed pitching. St. Louis made some changes, with both Matt Carpenter and Brandon Crawford getting their first starts of the season.
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Yesterday, it was reported that Walker Buehler will begin a rehab assignment in OKC on Sunday and was hoping to throw 4-5 innings. He’ll still start, but now is expected to throw 40-50 pitches. Which I guess could still be 4-5 innings if he’s very good.
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Clayton Kershaw update.
Clayton Kershaw said he has been ramping up the intensity in his throwing program, and is hoping to be throwing off a mound at “some point in May”
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) March 30, 2024
Kershaw could start throwing off a mound in March. He threw another flat-ground session today. Both Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol threw long toss today and seem to be a ways away.
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First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 PM PT (weather permitting) and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
