Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
We can ignore the Dodgers (69-43) getting swept over the weekend (Tarik Skubal!) and getting outscored 21-10 in the three games (Ben Rortvedt!). They went 2-4 on the homestand and played some sloppy baseball, and now head out for a six-game road trip that starts in Chicago. The Cubs (63-49) are 9-7 since the break and are coming off a series loss against the Yankees, winning the middle game but losing the first and last games. They allowed two runs in each game, but only scored one run total in the two losses. The Cubs came to LA at the end of April and the Dodgers took two of three, dropping the first game 6-4 before winning the next two by a combined score of 18-4. The Cubs have been busy today, adding Clay Holmes, Ryan Zeferjahn and Braxton Garrett to their pitching staff today after adding Kevin Gausman yesterday. Unsure if the Dodgers will see any of the starters this series, as Javier Assad and Shota Imanaga are lined up to start the next two games.
 |
 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5:05 P.M. | Chicago | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | CF | Crow-Armstrong (L) |
| CF | Pages | RF | Suzuki |
| 2B | Edman (S) | DH | Bregman |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | C | Kelly |
| SS | Betts | 1B | Busch (L) |
| RF | Tucker (L) | 2B | Hoerner |
| LF | T. Hernández | 3B | Ramírez (S) |
| 3B | K. Hernández | SS | Swanson |
| C | Alfonso (S) | LF | Alcántara |
| P | Wrobleski (L) | P | Boyd (L) |
Justin Wrobleski gets the ball for the Dodgers coming off his worst start of the season against the Mariners. He got through six innings for the 14th time in 18 starts, but matched his season-high giving up five runs. The Mariners have the fourth-worst slugging percentage in baseball, but hit four homers off Wrobleski. Six of the 17 balls put in play off Wrobo had exit velocities over 100 MPH. The offense beat up on Luis Castillo in that game, but Wrobo was unable to make their five runs stand up and left the door open for some bullpen struggles that led to a 7-6 Mariner win. Wrobleski faced the Cubs in LA in April and tossed six shutout innings and only gave up four hits, but also issued four walks and hit a batter.
Matthew Boyd makes his 13th start of the season for the Cubs. Boyd had a rough start to the season, giving up 16 runs in 24 innings over his first five starts. He had a 6.00 ERA in those starts, but had a 2.35 FIP thanks to a 31:6 strikeout:walk rate and only two homers allowed in those 24 innings. Boyd then did the most relatable thing a baseball player can do, as he tore his meniscus bending down to play with his kid which caused him to miss nearly two months. Boyd’s switched up his numbers since then, posting a 1.93 ERA over 42 innings in seven starts since returning but a 4.24 FIP and only 29 strikeouts with 13 walks allowed. Boyd completed at least six innings in each of his five starts in July. He allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings in one of those starts against the Reds, but allowed one or no runs in each of the other four starts. Boyd missed the Dodgers earlier this season, but has a 3.72 ERA in 19 1/3 innings against the Dodgers in his career. He faced them twice last season and had very similar final numbers, going six innings with three runs allowed in both starts. He only gave up four hits and struck out seven in LA last season, but somehow only gave up three runs despite giving up 10 hits and striking out only four when they played in Chicago.
Righties have a .710 OPS off Boyd this season, but he’s held lefties to a .510 OPS. He’s only had 66 plate appearances against lefties compared to 208 against righties, but the Dodgers have three in there today. Boyd throws a four-pitch mix, leading with a four-seamer 45.9 percent of the time. He also throws a change (27.7 percent), slider (15.6 percent) and curve (10.3 percent). He hasn’t allowed a hit off a curve so far this season.
Eliezer Alfonso starts again behind the plate because spoiler alert, Dalton Rushing is on the IL. Max Muncy sits with a lefty on the mound and Enrique Hernandez gets the start at third.
——
Rushing was placed on the IL with an elbow strain and Emmet Sheehan is being demoted to AAA. Jonathan Hernandez will be back up to take Sheehan’s 26-man spot, and Chuckie Robinson will maybe be the backup catcher tonight. Those roster moves haven’t been made official at the time of me scheduling this,, but they are in Chicago with the team.
Lots of #Dodgers moves beyond trades –
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 3, 2026
Emmet Sheehan is being sent down to AAA. Jonathan Hernandez promoted. Eric Lauer still here and stays in rotation. Will start Wednesday
Dalton Rushing to IL with sprained elbow. Chuckie Robinson here today. Ben Rortvedt expected tomorrow.
Unsure how long Rushing will be out, but the Dodgers won’t be relying on an Alfonso/Robinson duo for too long. Ben Rortvedt is back in the org and expected to be active tomorrow (Chad wrote about that trade earlier) and the Dodgers made another surprise trade, getting Hunter Fedducia back from Tampa for Jack Suwinski (Dustin wrote about that one).
Sheehan’s demotion is good news for Eric Lauer, who was not traded and will remain in the rotation to start Wednesday in the finale against the Cubs.
Win Wednesday confirmed.
——
Chad and Dustin put in work on the moves today, so check those first two out. Chad also wrote about the Dodgers trading for Kris Bubic from the Royals but maybe really just trading for a 40-man spot. If Bubic does come back this season, it seems like it’ll be in relief.
Brandon Gomes said Kris Bubic threw his first bullpen session yesterday. Plan is to build him up as a reliever.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 3, 2026
——
First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
