Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After entering this road trip on a six game winning streak, the Dodgers have dropped the first two games of this three game set against the Atlanta Braves in a pair of one-run games. Tanner Scott has allowed the winning run in back-to-back nights, but he’s largely been excellent this season and the offense and defense deserve more scrutiny for requiring the relief staff to be perfect. Roki Sasaki had to exit the game in the fourth inning due to a blister that has landed him on the Injured List while Eric Lauer will be replacing him in the rotation. Today the Dodgers will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound up against the ever-dominant Chris Sale, who would be in Cy Young talks if not for the existence of Jacob Misiorowski. The offense needs to be sharper and capitalize on their opportunities, and they’ll have to do so against the toughest pitcher on Atlanta’s staff before heading to Detroit.
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| 4:15 P.M. | Atlanta | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | C | Baldwin (L) |
| CF | Edman (S) | 2B | Albies |
| SS | Betts | 1B | Olson (L) |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | LF | Dubón |
| LF | T. Hernández | CF | Harris II (L) |
| 2B | Rojas | DH | Thomas |
| RF | Call | RF | Yastrzemski (L) |
| 3B | K. Hernández | 3B | Riley |
| C | Rortvedt (L) | SS | Kim |
| P | Yamamoto (R) | P | Sale (L) |
Sale is still a near death sentence against left-handed hitters, even at 37 years-old. Kyle Tucker, Max Muncy, and Hunter Feduccia will all head to the bench in favor of Enrique Hernández, Alex Call, and Ben Rortvedt. Rortvedt is still left-handed, but the team probably accepts they’re unlikely to get offense from either option at catcher against Sale, so Feduccia gets the day off. Tommy Edman slides up to second in the order and gets the start in center field. The offense could probably use Teoscar Hernández performing against left-handed pitching today.
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Here’s how Sale and Yamamoto have fared thus far.
Sale is still dominant even this late in his career, with 4.6 bWAR and 4.9 fWAR. He trails only Misiorowski and Cristopher Sánchez in most major stats, and has been the bonafide ace at the front of the Braves’ rotation for three consecutive seasons now. He’s also somehow the all-time leader in strikeout to walk ratio at 5.33 K:BB, with 2,745 strikeouts in his career to just 515 walks, which was surprising to find out, but also checks out. He faced the Dodgers back in May, earning the win while allowing just two earned runs over seven innings. Same deal as usual for him, devastating four-seamer and slider combo against right-handed batters, while mostly swapping the four-seamer for a sinker against lefties.
I’m short on time, so I’m just going to bounce off of what Alex said about Yamamoto prior to his last outing.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes his 23rd start of the season tonight. He has a 2.60 ERA/3.34 FIP in 145 1/3 innings, but hasn’t been quite as dominant as years past. He has fewer strikeouts (136) than innings pitched for the first time in his three seasons and has already allowed more homers (15) than he did in 173 2/3 innings last season (14). He’s coming off a strong start in the Dodgers’ lone win against Milwaukee, where he allowed a run on four hits and two walks over six innings with nine strikeouts. The lone run came on some Brewer smallball, as they led off with a double before a bunt single put runners on the corners and a fly ball drove in the run. He took the loss in his only career start against the Pirates last April in LA. He gave up an RBI single in the first inning for his lone earned run, but gave up two unearned in the fifth after a Max Muncy throwing error for a 3-0 Dodger loss.
He wasn’t incredibly sharp in that outing, but as the best pitchers do, he managed a great performance despite not having his best stuff. He went 6.1 innings against the Pirates in a no-decision, allowing just two earned runs on five hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. He allowed a run in the first inning once again, something he’s struggled with this season. He has a 3.91 ERA, 4.08 FIP, and a 1.17 WHIP in the first inning this season, with just a 2.38 ERA in every other inning.
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As expected, Roki Sasaki has hit the IL, and it ends up being Seth Halvorsen getting another look.
Chad previously wrote about Halvorsen here.
Blake Treinen is making his way back.
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First pitch is at 4:15 PT on SNLA and FS1.
