Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (64-47) beat the Athletics (46-66) convincingly last night, adding two runs in the eighth and six in the ninth to ultimately win by a score of 10-0. It was their first time scoring double-digits since June 29 in San Francisco. The game was tightly contested the entire time, but the six inning shutout by Jack Flaherty in his debut was exactly the start the Dodgers needed. His outing was just the second quality start by a Dodgers’ starter since June 26. If there’s one stat to showcase the team’s struggles in July, that’s the one. River Ryan will make the Dodgers’ final start in Oakland, as they look to win their first series on the road since they swept the White Sox on June 25. The right-handed Osvaldo Bido will be making his tenth appearance this year, but just his fourth start.
 |
 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:07 P.M. | Oakland | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | RF | Butler (L) |
| LF | T. Hernández | LF | Andujar |
| 2B | Lux (L) | CF | Bleday (L) |
| RF | Heyward (L) | DH | Rooker |
| 3B | K. Hernández | C | Langeliers |
| 1B | Biggio (L) | 1B | Brown (L) |
| SS | Rosario | 3B | Toro (S) |
| CF | Kiermaier (L) | 2B | Gelof |
| C | Barnes | SS | Schuemann |
| P | Ryan (R) | P | Bido (R) |
Both teams will run out similar starting lineups as last night, with the Dodgers making a couple tweaks. Amed Rosario will get his first start with the Dodgers, surprisingly coming at shortstop in place of Nick Ahmed. Ahmed has been about as advertised for the Dodgers, a below-average bat and a well above-average glove. He has a 31.3% strikeout rate with the Dodgers compared to 20.3% with San Francisco and 20.0% over the course of his career which is a bit odd, but he’s stopgap and you can’t ask for much offensively.
Rosario has been a defensive liability over the course of his career, but getting his bat in the lineup is valuable right now. Over his career at shortstop he’s been worth -39 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), and -60 Outs Above Average (OAA). Just this year in 93 innings at short, he’s been worth -2 OAA. He’s been passable at second base which is probably his role once the team is healthy. He’s 2-3 so far with the Dodgers this year coming in pinch-hit appearances, so as long as he keeps hitting he’ll probably find his way into the lineup. He’s hitting .330 with a 135 wRC+ against lefties, and .299 with a 107 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, deserving every start against lefties and occasional appearances against right-handed pitching. Kevin Kiermaier will get the start in center field over Andy Pages, hopefully evening out the defensive deficiencies Rosario creates.
——
Here’s how Ryan and Bido compare.
Bido took the loss his last time out unfortunately, with his worst outing of the year. He allowed seven earned runs on six hits, four walks, and one HBP over 3.2 innings with six strikeouts. He was able to generate some whiffs, but his lack of control hurt him. His fourth inning was the worst of it all as he walked the bases loaded and proceeded to give up a grand slam to the Angels’ Taylor Ward. He’s primarily been a multi-inning reliever this season, but is now making his third consecutive start.
He has a true five-pitch mix, with a four-seamer and sinker that sit in the mid-90’s as his fastballs. He adds in both a cutter and slider in the mid-80’s, as well as an upper-80’s changeup that he throws only to lefties. His slider grades out as his best pitch by Stuff+ and results, so he might just need to lean into throwing it even more than the current 27.1% rate.
Ryan allowed just one run on two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over 5.2 innings to earn his first career win in his last outing. Dave Roberts controversially pulled him with one runner on in the sixth inning, and Alex Vesia came in and immediately gave up a two-run homer. Sometimes it’s not easy to quantify, but the eye-test just says he’s got “it”, to me at least. His eight strikeouts on the road against a good Houston offense that doesn’t strikeout at all was extremely impressive. Houston had struck out just a total of ten times in the first two games of the series and Ryan nearly matched that total in his start, generating some really ugly swings from very good hitters.
His entire arsenal features premiere stuff, with his fastball, slider, and curveball taking up the majority of his mix. He mixes in a sinker, changeup, and cutter as well that all grade out decent at worst. Last time out his command was a bit shaky although improved from his season debut, and he definitely looks like one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. There’s still a good chunk of the season left, but due to his late start to the year he might have a lot left in the tank, and I could see him pitching himself onto the postseason roster.
——
Kiké Hernández, famous relief pitcher.
Eric Stephen put together an interesting list in regards to Shohei Ohtani joining the 30-30 club last night. Ohtani added three steals last night upping his season total up to 31.
——
I came across a comparable player to what Kendall George could eventually be assuming he progresses through the minor leagues reasonably well. The 25 year-old Jacob Young is slashing .250/.314/.313 for an 81 wRC+ and .627 OPS for the Washington Nationals with a league-leading 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 16 Outs Above Average. He’s added 26 stolen bases and totaled 2.0 fWAR and 2.3 bWAR despite being well below-average offensively, providing almost no slug at all. Not easy to replicate, but doable.
Future left fielder Dalton Rushing? Might need to get his bat in the lineup somehow in the near future whether that’s September or in 2025.
——
First pitch is at 1:07 p.m. PT on SNLA.
