Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After winning the first two games of this four game set against the Colorado Rockies (26-48), the Dodgers (46-30) dropped the third game last night by a score of 7-6. It was a close game and Bobby Miller looked solid in his return, but the game ended via a walk-off sac fly off the bat of Brenton Doyle. Miller allowed five earned runs over 6.1 innings, with moments where he looked great, and moments where he looked like he’d been out nine weeks. Coors Field is a tough place to make your return, and all in all he put up a decent outing. He made a few mistakes, most notable a three-run shot in the first inning by Michael Toglia. The offense was able to put up six runs, but a poorly executed seventh inning cost them the lead. Andy Pages couldn’t get to a ball that seemed very reachable, which would’ve covered for an error made by Cavan Biggio the play prior. Regardless, they’ve won two of three and look for the series win today behind Gavin Stone against the lefty, Ty Blach.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 12:10 P.M. | Denver | ||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | CF | Doyle |
| C | Smith | LF | Bouchard |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 3B | McMahon (L) |
| RF | T. Hernández | 1B | Toglia (S) |
| CF | Pages | DH | Montero |
| SS | Rojas | RF | Cave (L) |
| LF | Vargas | C | Goodman |
| 3B | K. Hernández | SS | Trejo |
| 2B | Taylor | 2B | Amador (S) |
| P | Stone (R) | P | Blach (L) |
Miguel Vargas and his .979 OPS will get another chance to play with the left-handed Blach on the mound. Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernández are both in the lineup as well for the favorable matchup. Shohei Ohtani seems to be catching his stride, as he logged his fourth consecutive multi-hit game. Over his last nine games he’s slashing .371/.463/.886, good for a 1.349 OPS and a .271 wRC+.
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Here’s how Stone and Blach compare.
Blach nabbed his third win of the year in his last outing, allowing just two runs on seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts over 5.2 innings. He’s gone at least five innings in five consecutive outings, but he’s allowed at least seven hits in each of his last three starts. He’s logged just 50 innings, but among 134 starters to hit that mark, his 12.4% strikeout-rate is dead last, while his .302 batting average allowed is 129th. He’s had decent years, but mainly with the Giants back in 2017 and 2018 as a swingman.
He has 27 strikeouts in 50.1 innings pitched, and 284 in 499.0 career innings. He relies on a sinker that tops out at 90 MPH, a changeup that sits near 80, mixing in a low-80’s cutter and high 70’s curveball. He gets an above-average amount of swings outside the zone, but doesn’t actually generate any whiffs. Bit of a strange combo there. For example, batters have chased on pitches outside the zone 32.5% of the time against Blach, putting him in the 86th percentile, while Tyler Glasnow is generating chases 28.8% of the time. The difference is when the batters do chase, they make contact just 35.8% of the time against Glasnow, compared to 74.3% for Blach. Obviously not a fair comparison, but interesting to see.
Stone allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts over seven innings in his last outing against Kansas City. It’s unlikely that he manages to make the NL All-Star team, but he’s really not all that far off. His 3.01 ERA is 13th in the NL, and his seven wins are tied for the fourth most. I’m not a wins guy but it matters a bit for voting purposes. Regardless, he’s put together a great season so far, and this rotation has really benefitted from his emergence. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto hitting the IL, Walker Buehler struggling in his return (and maybe being injured), and Miller just returning, Stone has been reliable, dependable, and consistent. Coors Field is definitely a challenge, but Stone has stepped up in every opportunity he’s been given.
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Seems all is well, but with a nine game lead in the division they could probably afford to give Teoscar Hernández a day off.
Clayton Kershaw had a solid outing in his first rehab start.
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First pitch is at 12:10 p.m. PDT on SNLA.
