Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Yesterday was terrible for the Dodgers (56-33) and great for the Astros (53-35), as Houston took the series opener by a score of 18-1, the most lopsided loss in Dodger Stadium history. Not much to say there, as in theory an 18-1 loss is the same as a 1-0 loss, without using any high-leverage relief arms. They’ll need a win today to avoid dropping their first series since a month ago in St. Louis. Shohei Ohtani will make his fourth start of the season, targeting two innings as he did in Kansas City last weekend, before Justin Wrobleski likely comes in. The Astros’ reliable lefty, Framber Valdez, will be on the mound looking for his tenth win of the year.
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| 4:15 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| 3B | Paredes | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| RF | Smith | SS | Betts |
| 2B | Altuve | C | Smith |
| 1B | Walker | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| DH | Caratini (S) | RF | T. Hernández |
| C | Diaz | CF | Pages |
| LF | Hummel (S) | 2B | Edman (S) |
| CF | Dubón | LF | K. Hernández |
| SS | Short | 3B | Rojas |
| P | Valdez (L) | P | Ohtani (R) |
Will Smith hit a home run yesterday, bringing his OPS up to .997, with a wRC+ of 178. He leads the National League in wRC+, batting average (.330), and on-base percentage (.433). Pretty special season that he’s been having with the bat thus far. Hopefully the addition of Dalton Rushing keeps Smith’s workload down in order for him to sustain his performance (as much as possible) for the entirety of the season and through October.
Kiké Hernández gets the start in left field against the left-handed Valdez, hoping to get him going against left-handed pitching as that’s his job, in addition to avoiding poor matchups for Michael Conforto. Tommy Edman is back at second base, and Miguel Rojas will fill in for Max Muncy at third base until Edman is ready to take over those responsibilities full time.
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Here’s how Framber and Wrobleski compare. This is under the assumption that Wrobleski will be taking down the bulk innings today as it seems very likely but hasn’t been confirmed.
Framber nabbed his ninth win of the season his last time out against the Cubs, providing six scoreless innings on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Chicago has a very potent offense, making Framber’s recent run of form even more impressive. He’s 6-0 in his last seven starts with a 1.57 ERA over 46 innings. That’s been more or less what he’s done for the majority of the season after a poor start to the year, as he has a 2.17 ERA over his last 13 starts and 87.0 innings pitched, averaging nearly seven innings per start, and with 11 quality starts in 13 chances.
When Framber is on his game, he’s a workhorse, incredibly consistent, and one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Of pitchers with at least 400 innings pitched since 2022, he’s second in innings pitched (684.2), fifth in ERA (3.01), eighth in FIP (3.23), while his 53 wins lead all of baseball, and he’s racked up three consecutive top-10 Cy Young finishes. He’s seventh in innings this year, but with 6.2 would retake the lead from Garrett Crochet. His 13 quality starts trail just Logan Webb, and he’s been lights out since a seven run outing in early April. He faced the Dodgers once last year, going 6.1 scoreless innings with ten strikeouts and just four hits allowed. It’s been a fantastic 2025 season for Valdez, especially so as he approaches free agency, looking to earn himself quite the payday.
Ohtani allowed one hit and one walk over two scoreless innings his last time out in Kansas City. He threw 27 pitches and reared back for 101.7 mph on a fastball, the hardest pitch he’s thrown in his career. He’ll look to build off that start against a Houston offense that is white hot. He’s generally hit well during his starts as a two-way player, and has continued to do so this year…to an extent. He was held hitless the last game in which he started, but was 2-for-4 in each of his prior two outings. However, he’s struck out in the first inning in each of those three outings, a trend he’ll look to kick today.
Wrobleski picked up his third consecutive win his last time out against the Royals, allowing three hits and one walk over six scoreless innings in addition to six strikeouts. He’s been nothing short of fantastic as of late, with a 2.73 ERA, 2.79 FIP, and a 0.87 WHIP over 26.1 innings since returning to the rotation in early June. Over his last four outings, he’s compiled a 1.77 ERA, 2.11 FIP, and a 0.93 WHIP, with 21 strikeouts to 3 walks over 20.1 innings. He’s picked a great time to figure things out, as with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow on the mend, rotation spots will become very limited. The Astros will be a tough test for him.
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If Blake Snell were to go on a rehab assignment next week, he should have enough time to return before the end of the month. Hopefully he keeps progressing well. Blake Treinen is also on a similar timeline as Snell, targeting a return after the All-Star break.
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No surprises here, Noah Davis goes back to OKC while Jack Little returns.
Emmet Sheehan will return tomorrow, looking to make his own case to remain with the big-club.
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First pitch is at 4:15 PT on FOX.
