Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Last night may have been the most frustrating game of an already-frustrating season (about as frustrating as a 16-8 team can be, at least). Dustin May and Shota Imanaga both struggled, allowing 12 runs and 16 hits combined. The Dodgers beat up on the Cubs’ bullpen in the seventh, as the first five reached base off Brad Keller, who was charged with five earned runs in 1/3 of an inning. The Dodgers led 10-7, but Alex Vesia served up a two-run homer to Kyle Tucker and Tanner Scott‘s struggles continued, allowing a two-out game-tying homer in the ninth. After failing to score in the top of the 10th, Noah Davis‘ first pitch as a Dodger was banged into right for a walkoff single. The Dodgers used six relievers to cover four innings including their four highest-leverage arms, which is ominous the day before a planned bullpen game.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 4:00 P.M. | Chicago | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | LF | Happ (S) |
| SS | Betts | RF | Tucker (L) |
| RF | T. Hernández | DH | Suzuki |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 1B | Busch (L) |
| 2B | Edman (S) | SS | Swanson |
| CF | Pages | 2B | Hoerner |
| LF | Conforto (L) | CF | Crow-Armstrong (L) |
| 3B | Rojas | C | Kelly |
| C | Barnes | 3B | Berti |
| P | Casparius (R) | P | Boyd (L) |
Ben Casparius gets the start tonight to give the Dodgers hopefully some length out of their opener. 57 of Casparius’ 79 Minor League outings came as a starter, but this marks his first regular season start in the Majors. He did start Game 2 of the World Series and walked three batters in two innings. Casparius has maxed out at three innings/47 pitches so far this season, but threw 85 pitches in 4 1/3 innings in Colorado last September and topped 90 pitches three times in AAA last season. The Dodgers used Scott, Vesia, Davis, Anthony Banda, Kirby Yates and Luis García last night. Vesia needed 27 pitches to record his two outs, but no one else threw more than 20. The team had an off day Monday and are off tomorrow, so the bullpen should mostly be available. No signs of any roster moves as of me scheduling this thread to go cook.
The Dodgers face another lefty in Matthew Boyd. Boyd saw the Dodgers 12 days ago in LA and was pretty dominant for five innings, scattering two hits and two walks through five. The wheels fell off a bit in the sixth, as he allowed a single and hit a batter before Tommy Edman‘s three-run homer broke a scoreless tie. Boyd completed six and struck out a season-high seven batters, but allowed the first runs he’d allowed all season and served up his first (and only) homer allowed through four starts. Boyd took another loss last time out in San Diego, allowing two runs over 5 1/3 in a 4-2 loss.
The Dodgers really struggled with Boyd’s fastball in that start. He threw it 41.8 percent of the time in that start and got a 41.2 percent whiff rate with it. He hasn’t gotten higher than a 27 percent whiff rate with his fastball in his other three starts this season. The fastball velocity was a tick up from his previous start, but it’ll be interesting to see how they adjust to it this time out. The Dodgers have struggled a bit against lefties this season, with the 13th-best OPS and 18th-best wRC+ off southpaws (.675 and 87, respectively). The Dodgers have the ninth-best walk rate in baseball (9.7 percent), but their 6.7 percent walk rate against lefties is 21st in the league.
Will Smith and Max Muncy sit today with Austin Barnes behind the plate and Miguel Rojas starting at third. Edman starts at second, with Andy Pages in center and Michael Conforto in left.
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Smith is apparently a bit dinged up.
Will Smith woke up with a sore left wrist this morning after banging his left wrist on the play at the plate tagging Ian Happ out in last night’s 6th inning.
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) April 23, 2025
Smith isn’t too concerned, but with day off tomorrow #Dodgers giving him an extra day.
Hopefully by Friday he’s either back in the lineup or on the IL to fully heal instead of playing through an injury all season again. Either way, it doesn’t seem like they’re Rushing to call up any top catching prospects.
Blake Snell is also still not right, suffering a setback.
Roberts said the Dodgers are "gonna slow-play the throwing" with Snell for now
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) April 23, 2025
"Part of the messaging from us to Blake is, it’s about later on in the season," Roberts said. "And if there’s any type of discomfort, let’s not try to fight through it."
The Dodgers want to play it very safe, but … uh, not great.
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First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.
