Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (75-51) took the first game of this three game set in Colorado (50-75) in convincing fashion with a final score of 11-5, in a game that was never as close as the final line would indicate. Blake Snell was great in his third start of the season and second since returning from the Injured List, allowing just one earned run across six innings. Unfortunately even wins in Coors Field oftentimes come at a cost, and this time it was losing Edwin Díaz to the Injured List once again, after he allowed three earned runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in an 11-2 blowout. It was the lowest leverage opportunity that Díaz could possibly get, and he struggled once again. Who knows the severity of the neck inflammation that will have him on the sidelines again, but I wouldn’t be shocked if this was their way of getting him some time off to try something else to get him back on track. Tonight the Dodgers go for the series win with Eric Lauer on the mound up against Ryan Feltner. There’s potential for a lot of runs to be scored tonight.
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| 5:40 P.M. | Denver | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | DH | McCarthy (L) |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | CF | Carrigg (S) |
| CF | Pages | 3B | Castro (S) |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | 1B | Rumfield (L) |
| SS | Betts | 2B | Norby |
| 2B | Edman (S) | LF | Moniak (L) |
| RF | Tucker (L) | RF | Beck |
| LF | T. Hernández | C | Fulford |
| C | Feduccia (L) | SS | Tovar |
| P | Lauer (L) | P | Feltner (R) |
The Dodgers will run out nearly the exact same lineup as the one that put up eleven runs on 14 hits and three walks last night. Kyle Tucker will drop one spot in the order while Tommy Edman slides up. Shohei Ohtani was 4-for-5 with two home runs, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages added three hits of their own, while Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker, and Hunter Feduccia all went hitless. Feduccia isn’t getting paid an exorbitant amount of money to hit, while the other two are, and they’ve both continued to struggle as we have crossed the halfway point in August. With the trade deadline behind us, there’s nothing external that can be done to improve this situation, both Tucker and Teoscar simply need to figure things out at the plate.
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Lauer had a miserable start against the Cubs in Chicago two weeks ago, allowing six earned runs across four innings in his first real stinker as a Dodger. He followed that up with a bounce back start against the Kansas City Royals at home however, going 6.1 innings while allowing just one earned run. That performance earned him his sixth win as a Dodger, bringing his record to 6-1 with the team, with a 3.48 ERA across 11 outings and 62.0 innings. He faced the Rockies on July 6, where he received no-decision in a quality start, allowing three earned runs across 6.0 innings in Los Angeles. He’ll look to build off that start against Kansas City and help get the Dodgers back toward their winning ways.
The 29 year-old Feltner has struggled this season, posting a 5.59 ERA, a 5.65 FIP, and a 1.48 WHIP across 18 starts and 87.0 innings thus far. He has a career 5.27 ERA across 426.2 innings, including a 5.81 ERA at home and a 4.79 ERA on the road which sounds about right for a guy whose home park is Coors Field. That 4.79 ERA still isn’t particularly pretty, and this might just be more or less who Feltner is at this point. He has just one scoreless outing this year, coming back at the end of May against the Giants, and he has a 6.38 ERA across eleven starts and 55.0 innings pitched over the last two months. It’s been an ugly stretch for him in the midst of a very forgettable season, and this isn’t an ideal matchup for him tonight against a Dodger team looking to right the ship offensively.
He sits in the mid-90’s with his four-seamer and sinker, mixing in all of a slider, changeup, curveball, and a sweeper depending on the situation and handedness of the batters. He predominantly throws the changeup exclusively to left-handed batters, and he’s actually had fantastic results on the pitch. He’s allowed just a .177 batting average on the changeup, with a .182 xwOBA, and a rather staggering 45.6% whiff rate. There have been 109 pitchers to throw at least 200 changeups this season, and his 45.6% whiff rate on the pitch is the seventh highest, slotting in right between Cristopher Sánchez (46.9%) and Jacob deGrom (42.7%). His .130 expected batting average on the pitch is the lowest in all of baseball, while his xwOBA of .182 trails just Dylan Cease (.171) among right-handed pitchers.
Feels like there has to be an organization out there that could do something with that changeup as a baseline. Who knows.
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Emmet Sheehan returns to the roster as the corresponding move with Díaz hitting the IL. He most recently went 5.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts for OKC.
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First pitch is at 5:40 PT on SNLA.
