Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
We got an email to the mailbag a few days ago about whether the four of us ever disagree on anything, and Chad’s response was appropriate, saying that on minor stuff, sure, but for the most part we’re aligned on our baseball outlook, because this site would be very odd if we didn’t.
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Mets
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles, Ca.
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RF
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Granderson
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2B
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Gordon
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2B
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Murphy
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CF
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Puig
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3B
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Wright
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1B
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Gonzalez
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1B
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Duda
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RF
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Kemp
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C
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d’Arnaud
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LF
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Van Slyke
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LF
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den Dekker
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3B
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Turner
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CF
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Lagares
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C
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Ellis
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SS
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Flores
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SS
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Arruebarrena
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P
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Niese (R)
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P
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Haren (R)
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Here’s one, though, and it involves tonight’s starter for the Mets, Jon Niese. Dustin really wants him, reasonably saying that he would be an improvement on what’s here and that his contract isn’t that big a deal. Valid points, but I have to say I’m happy he’s on the other side. While it’s true that Niese made it through waivers, I see that as more of a warning sign than a bonus, because why would every team pass him up?
For my part, it’s because I think his shoulder isn’t healthy. Niese missed two months last year due to a “partial tear” of his rotator cuff, and two weeks last month with inflammation. His velocity has been down considerably this year — after years at 91-92, he’s down to 88-89 this year — and he’s been trying to mix in more pitches to make up for it. Though his ERA is down, so are his strikeouts. Better than Kevin Correia or Roberto Hernandez? Yeah, probably. But for how long? The whole thing just terrifies me.
All of which, of course, means that he’ll throw seven two-hit innings tonight, outpitch Dan Haren badly, and be in Los Angeles next week with Joc Pederson and Scott Schebler in New York. Obviously.
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As for the lineup, nothing all that noteworthy. Scott Van Slyke starts against the lefty — in some corners of the internet, I’ve seen calls for Carl Crawford to play against lefties because he’s been “hot” lately, which is just insane to me, and Erisbel Arruebarrena gets back in at shortstop. A.J. Ellis starts behind the dish; I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had to tell people “forget batting average, look at on-base percentage” and “no, he hasn’t been good, but neither are Drew Butera or Tim Federowicz, so what are we expecting the Dodgers to do?” lately.
Not helping: San Francisco is up 6-2 on Washington right now in the eighth. I suppose we had to expect the Nationals’ 10-game winning streak to end at some point. Sigh.
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