Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (64-47) opened the series against the Rays (55-57) with their fourth shutout victory of the season Friday night, and then followed it up with a lifeless 4-0 shutout loss Saturday morning. Chad covered the loss, detailing essentially that Blake Snell looked great in his return to the mound despite the three earned runs coming via Yandy Diaz short porch homers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be on the mound on in this early morning getaway game, as the Dodgers look to win their second consecutive series despite offensive inconsistencies. The flamethrowing right-hander, Joe Boyle, will be making his third start of the year for the Rays as he looks to secure a spot in the rotation moving forward.
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| 9:10 AM | Tampa | |||
| DH | Ohtani (L) | DH | Díaz | |
| SS | Betts | 1B | B. Lowe (L) | |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 3B | Caminero | |
| C | Smith | RF | J. Lowe (L) | |
| LF | Conforto (L) | 2B | Kim | |
| CF | Pages | C | Feduccia (L) (L) | |
| 3B | Freeland (S) | LF | Mangum (S) | |
| 2B | Edman (S) | CF | DeLuca | |
| RF | Call | SS | Walls (S) | |
| P | Yamamoto (R) | P | Boyle (R) |
The offense looked solid in the opening game of this series, putting up five runs on nine hits and two walks. They followed that up with a terrible showing, logging just six hits while striking out eleven times without drawing a walk. They’ve now recorded ten or more strikeouts in six of the last eight games, including two 15 strikeout games. Just some really poor performances from the offense across the board as of late. While there were some position players the Dodgers could’ve targeted prior to the trade deadline, no additions would make Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, Freddie Freeman, and Shohei Ohtani hit better and more consistently. They all just need to be better, specifically the first two.
Betts is back to hitting second in the order after hitting just .186 with a .498 OPS in ten games since being moved to the leadoff spot. The at-bat quality and batted ball metrics have looked better over the last week or so, but he needs results at some point. Alex Call will get the start in right field as Teoscar has the day off, while Will Smith is starting behind the plate again. Tommy Edman gets the start at second base after having the day off yesterday.
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Boyle stepped into the rotation last week after Taj Bradley was optioned to Triple-A, and the spot looks a bit more permanent now with Bradley being traded to the Twins prior to the trade deadline. The Rays additionally sent their starter Zack Littell to the Reds, really creating a runway for Boyle to earn a spot. His last time out, he allowed four runs on four hits and three walks over 3.1 innings against the Yankees in what was a bit of a struggle for him. He issued three walks and needed nearly 80 pitches to record ten outs, although his season stats still look excellent. He’s thrown just 22.1 innings, but has a 2.82 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP with 24 strikeouts to nine walks. He’s always had overpowering stuff, but never the command or control to make it work on a consistent enough basis. He has a three-pitch mix, with all three sitting at 91 mph or above. His four-seamer is routinely flirting with 100 mph, while his slider and a splitter both sit in the low-90’s. Not an easy guy to do much against if he’s throwing strikes.
Yamamoto had one of his best starts of the year his last time out against the Reds, allowing one run over seven innings on four hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. He set a career high in whiffs with 21, and cruised to his ninth win of the year. As a whole, it’s been a very good year for him despite the lows being a bit lower than he’d probably prefer. He’s 9-7 with a 2.63 ERA, 2.99 FIP, and a 1.05 WHIP, with 133 strikeouts in 116.1 innings. Over his last three starts, he’s allowed just four earned runs, pitching to a 1.89 ERA, 1.36 FIP, and a 0.95 WHIP, with 24 strikeouts to just five walks in 19.0 innings. He had a 0.90 ERA over his first seven starts, a 4.46 ERA over the next seven, and a 2.61 ERA over his most recent seven games. Hopefully he builds upon that start in Cincinnati and keeps Tampa Bay off the board long enough for the offense to do something.
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The offense has cratered in Max Muncy‘s absence, and they need him back as soon as possible. It’s unrealistic to expect him to perform how he was prior to the injury, but the offense needs any sort of production it can get.
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For some early morning reading, check out Bruce’s level-headed and realistic analysis of the Dodgers’ trade deadline.
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First pitch is at 9:10 a.m. PT on SNLA.
