Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers got another short-but-promising start out of Yoshinobu Yamamoto last night, as he worked out of constant danger for four shutout innings against Atlanta. It was a tight game through six, but another explosive late inning powered the Dodgers to a 9-0 win and a series split. There’s 12 games left in the regular season, and nine of those are against the two worst teams in baseball besides the White Sox. The other three are against the Padres, who just won’t fade away and remain 3.5 games back of the division. The two teams meet up starting a week from today, so the Dodgers really need to handle business in Miami and at home against Colorado over the weekend. My mental health cannot take a three-game set in Coors to end the season actually mattering for the division.
First up is a Miami team that is currently 55-95. They have the second-worst record in baseball and yet are 19.5 games ahead of the White Sox. They’ve lost six of their last seven, but did split a four-game set against the Phillies just before that. The Dodgers swept them back in LA in May, outscoring the Marlins 17-6 in the three games.
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| 3:40 PM | Miami | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | SS | Edwards (S) |
| RF | Betts | 3B | Norby |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | LF | Sánchez (L) |
| LF | T. Hernández | 1B | Burger |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | DH | Bride |
| CF | Edman (S) | CF | Stowers (L) |
| 2B | Lux (L) | 2B | Lopez |
| SS | Rojas | RF | Conine (L) |
| C | Feduccia (L) | C | Fortes |
| P | Miller (R) | P | McCaughan (R) |
Bobby Miller gets another start despite struggling his last time out, prompting Eric Stephen to question why he’d get one. Miller allowed six runs on five hits and four walks against the Cubs last Wednesday and now has an 8.17 ERA/7.13 FIP in 54 innings. He’s allowed 13 runs in 9 1/3 innings in his two September starts and has served up five homers. He ended August with a pair of solid outings that looked like he’d maybe turned a corner, but it’s been ugly for most of the season. The Dodgers did manage to win that game and they’re 6-6 when Miller starts, which isn’t horrible. Tyler Glasnow‘s issues might extend Miller’s leeway, but it wouldn’t be surprising if someone like Ben Casparius gets another look should Miller struggle against a bad Marlins lineup. They’ve been a bottom-five offense in some categories you don’t want to be at the bottom at (third-lowest wRC+, second-lowest team OPS, lowest walk rate, fifth-lowest hard-hit rate).
The Dodgers face former Dirtbag Darren McCaughan. The 28-year-old Long Beach native has had a rough year in his first slightly extended look at the Major League level. He threw 13 total Major League innings in 2021 and 2023, but has thrown 29 1/3 over eight games this season between the Marlins and Guardians. He’s been slightly better since becoming a Marlin, with a 6.56 ERA/5.61 FIP over 23 1/3 innings. He was signed off waivers by Miami in July and spent most of that time in the Minors, where he posted a 4.53 ERA over 11 starts. He made a pair of relief appearances in August and has been in the rotation since September. He’s allowed eight runs and 17 hits in 13 2/3 innings over those three starts, but the Marlins have yet to lose a game he’s started.
Obviously all his sample sizes are minuscule, but McCaughan has thrown a sweeper 40.3 percent, sinker 31.4 percent, four seamer 18.3 percent and change 10 percent of the time this season. Both of his fastballs average under 90 MPH and his changeup is his only pitch with above a 20 percent whiff rate.
Hunter Feduccia gets his second career start as Will Smith sits today. Freddie Freeman returns to his usual three hole with Teoscar Hernandez hitting cleanup.
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Tony Gonsolin will get at least one more rehab start.
Per #Dodgers Dave Roberts — Tony Gonsolin will make another rehab start with OKC, try to get thru 4 innings. After that there will be “a conversation“ about whether he can help LAD
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 17, 2024
The goal is for him to get through four, and there’s a chance he could actually return before 2025. Let the record show I’d rather he return left-handed than have Shohei pitch in October.
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First pitch is scheduled for 3:40 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.
