Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers ended their road trip from hell on a positive note, as they took the final two games in Oakland to take the series. They went 3-5 on the road trip, which began with a series loss in Houston before a mini-sweep by the Padres and a series win against the A’s.
The Dodgers return home 65-47, now only 4.5 games up on the Padres in the West. However, with a series win the Dodgers can take over the top seed in the National League as the Phillies have been in an even worse tailspin than the Dodgers. They’re 4-11 since the break and their win on Sunday snapped a six-game losing streak. They hadn’t lost more than three in a row before the break (and only lost that many in a row once), so it seems the Home Run Derby broke all of their swings or something. All four of their wins in that span have been in shutouts, so pretty sure all the Dodgers have to do tonight is score one (1) run.
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| 7:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| DH | Schwarber (L) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| SS | Turner | LF | T. Hernández |
| 1B | Harper (L) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 3B | Bohm | C | Smith |
| CF | Marsh (L) | 2B | Lux (L) |
| RF | Castellanos | 3B | K. Hernández |
| 2B | Stott (L) | RF | Heyward (L) |
| LF | Hays | CF | Pages |
| C | Stubbs (L) | SS | Ahmed |
| P | Nola (R) | P | Glasnow (R) |
Tyler Glasnow gets the ball coming off a solid start in San Diego. The Dodgers gifted Glasnow a five-run lead in the top of the first, and he allowed a run in the second and two in the third. He was able to get through seven with only those three runs allowed, but the offense failed to score after the first and Blake Treinen blew the save in the ninth before the Padres walked off in the 10th. The start definitely looked more Glasnow-esque than his recent outings, as he struck out eight and only issued one walk. Tonight, he gets his second career start (fourth game overall) against the Phillies. He hasn’t seen them since 2018, when we were all extremely different people. He’s allowed six runs in 8 2/3 innings against them, but has only ever faced six current Phillies (including today’s starting pitcher). In 40 combined plate appearances, current Phillies are six-for-35 off him with four walks and 14 strikeouts.
Aaron Nola and his .500 career OPS (by way of a hit by pitch) against Glasnow starts for the Phillies tonight. Nola’s continued to be steady in the rotation, as he makes his 23rd start of the season tonight after making exactly 32 in each of the last three seasons. Nola’s posted a 3.43 ERA/ 3.86 FIP 136 1/3 innings, but is currently running his lowest strikeout rate since his rookie season at 23.7 percent. The Phillies only lost four of Nola’s first 19 starts, but have lost his last three. Nola’s been pretty solid in those three, with seven runs allowed in 16 2/3 innings. He’s walked three batters in back to back games and hasn’t gone over 100 pitches since July 11. That start came against the Dodgers, when he allowed a run and four hits over six innings and struck out nine.
Nola used his four-seamer more against the Dodgers than he has in any other start this season. He threw it 38.6 percent of the time despite it being his second-most-used pitch this season (26 percent). The lone run came on a Gavin Lux homer which came on the fastball. Two of the four Dodger hits came on his knuckle curve, which is generally his most-used pitch at 32.2 percent of the time.
Freddie Freeman returns to the lineup tonight and hits third. Teoscar Hernandez remains in the two-hole, with Will Smith hitting fourth.
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Freeman spoke to the media today about the last week or so. Here’s the video, good to hear things seem to be going well all things considered.
“It's a good thing I'm here because it means things are trending better…. No one should have to go through this, especially a 3-year-old. I don’t know how many times Chelsea and I said we wish we could switch.”
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 6, 2024
Freddie Freeman, understandably emotional, speaks about the… pic.twitter.com/AYBrRdVv2O
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This might be a big week for roster moves. Cavan Biggio was designated for assignment to make room for Freeman.
Cavan Biggio was designated for assignment with Freddie Freeman’s return.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 5, 2024
Miguel Rojas could be back this week, along with Brusdar Graterol and Michael Grove.
Dodgers are making a decision on potentially activating Brusdar Graterol or Michael Grove as soon as tonight, Dave Roberts said. Both are here in Los Angeles. https://t.co/txysQQgvyJ
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 5, 2024
Roberts says Miguel Rojas could be back in the next week.
— Vincent Samperio (@vincesince91) August 5, 2024
Biggio started all eight games at first while Freeman was gone, but was DFA’d today. They’ll need a 40-man spot for Graterol when he returns from the 60-day IL, so Biggio figures to be that move. They’ll also need one when Tommy Edman, Max Muncy, Ryan Brasier and Yoshinobu Yamamoto return, barring other injuries. Rojas won’t need a rehab assignment and should be back this week.
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Speaking of Muncy and his situation.
Max Muncy took some swings today off the velocity machine and felt really good.
— Vincent Samperio (@vincesince91) August 5, 2024
He’ll need a rehab assignment. Could be as early as this weekend.
Muncy could head off on a rehab assignment this weekend as he’s hopefully close to coming back from an oblique injury.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.
