Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (83-55) are coming off a successful series on the road in which they took three of four games against the red hot Arizona Diamondbacks (77-61) to create some breathing room in the division and secure the tiebreaker against Arizona should they need it.
They unfortunately don’t have a day off after that series, but they do get a weak opponent in the Angels (57-80) for two games before Thursday’s day off. This will be the first time Shohei Ohtani has returned to Anaheim (in the regular season) as a member of the Dodgers, and hopefully he receives a huge ovation from the fans there. The talented lefty Reid Detmers will be making his first major league start in over three months, up against Walker Buehler, who is trying to build off a solid outing his last time out. The last game the Dodgers played in Anaheim was June 21, 2023, where they faced Shohei Ohtani who went seven innings allowing one run on five hits with 12 strikeouts and … received the loss.
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| 6:38 PM | Anaheim | |||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | LF | Ward | |
| RF | Betts | SS | Neto | |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 1B | Schanuel (L) | |
| LF | Hernández | 3B | Rendon | |
| C | Smith | CF | Moniak (L) | |
| CF | Edman (S) | C | O’Hoppe | |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | 2B | Drury | |
| SS | Rojas | RF | Adell | |
| 2B | Taylor | DH | Kavadas (L) | |
| P | Buehler (R) | P | Detmers (L) |
The Dodgers will run out their relatively standard lineup against left-handed pitching with Max Muncy starting at third base over Kiké Hernández. It’s a bit odd to start Muncy against Detmers after sitting him against the lefty Eduardo Rodríguez in favor of Kiké, but I figure they want to give Muncy time off as well as time to see if he can hit lefties prior to October. Gavin Lux will be on the bench in favor of Chris Taylor against the left-handed Detmers.
Here’s how the two offenses compare as a whole.
The Angels have struggled mightily this year on both sides of the ball, and it’s clear that they have one of the worst offenses in baseball. They’re desperately missing Mike Trout who is out for the year once again, this time with a meniscus tear. Luis Rengifo was one of the bright spots and a prime trade candidate for them, but he’s out with a right wrist injury. They also lost Ohtani to free agency this offseason, with all the above resulting in a terrible offense and a terrible team.
There are some bright spots however, Zach Neto is their 2022 first rounder, and with a 113 wRC+, 20 home runs, and 25 steals while playing good defense at shortstop, he’s a staple in their future. Additionally, as is their 24 year-old catcher Logan O’Hoppe, with a 96 wRC+, solid defense, and 17 homers despite injuries this year. Their 2023 first rounder, Nolan Schanuel, is also putting things together with a 103 wRC+ after not looking like he was ready for the majors earlier this season. He’s slashing .271/.384/.406 in the second half, a 128 wRC+. Taylor Ward is their 30 year-old left fielder who looked to be breaking out in 2022 with a 136 wRC+, but followed that up with a 107 wRC+ in 2023, and a 102 wRC+ this year.
Teoscar Hernández is coming off a 5-5 game, up to a 130 wRC+ and 3.0 fWAR despite poor defense in left field. He’s been a reliable presence in this lineup, and this offense would’ve been far worse without the one-year deal he signed this offseason. Freddie Freeman had five days off for a bit of a mental reset and to give his broken finger some time off as well, and it appeared to work wonders for him based on his play this past weekend. He was 6-15 with two walks, four home runs, and ten RBI during a crucial series. That’s the Freeman the Dodgers need in September and October. Ohtani is at 44 home runs and 46 stolen bases after adding three steals in yesterday’s game. He needs three more home runs to set a career high, and six more for the single season franchise record and the more difficult part of 50/50.
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Here’s how Detmers and Buehler compare, both obviously having seasons that have not gone how they’d like.
The Angels recalled Detmers from Triple-A to start this game after spending three months in the minors due to poor performance. The Angels were reportedly listening to trade offers on Detmers near the deadline, but did the right thing and kept him. Well, the best thing for the franchise, unlikely the case for Detmers. I’m really not sure why they have him in Triple-A, as he’s shown clear success in the major leagues over the past two seasons and is still just 25 years-old. He had a 4.48 ERA and 4.13 FIP over 148.2 innings pitched last season with 168 strikeouts, coming after a 3.77 ERA and a 3.79 FIP, across 129.0 innings as a 22 year-old. He had a 4.40 FIP in his limited innings this season with a .333 BABIP and a LOB% (left on base percentage) of 61.7%, well below the league-average mark of 71.9%, all suggesting he would get back towards his 2022 and 2023 self. Instead, they option him to Triple-A Salt Lake City, an atrocious place to pitch, where he has a 5.54 ERA in 79.0 innings pitched, with 101 strikeouts to 27 walks. He sits in the mid-90’s with his four-seamer, throws a slider/sweeper and changeup in the mid-80’s, and a big loopy, mid-70’s curveball. He probably received so much trade interest because he’s a young lefty starter with a track record of success despite pitching in an organization with a very poor record of pitching development. He should be in the big league rotation, and has the capability to be dominant every time he takes the mound, even though he has a 6.14 ERA this year.
Buehler had a good outing his last time out against a tough Orioles offense, despite the final box score looking mediocre. He started strong retiring the first four batters, before an error and dropped third strike issue ruined his momentum in the second and made the inning drag on. He nearly made it through five innings, coming up just one batter short but putting together one of his more encouraging outings as of late. Not a ton to say other than hope he builds off his performance against a weak offense. Hopefully the defense behind him comes to play tonight.
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Good news for Tyler Glasnow and his progression.
Hopefully Clayton Kershaw heals up a bit and manages to have time to make a case for the postseason roster.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto went two innings tonight for OKC, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Most importantly it seems he came out of it well, topped out at 96 MPH, and continued to up his pitch count.
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First pitch is at 6:38 PT on SNLA.
