Dodgers @ Cardinals, May 30: Offense Gets Two Shots in the Arm

	Dodgers			Cardinals
	4:15 p.m.			St. Louis, Mo.
CF	Pederson		2B	Wong
3B	Turner		3B	Carpenter
1B	Gonzalez		LF	Holliday
2B	Kendrick		SS	Peralta
RF	Ethier		RF	Grichuk
C	Grandal		C	Molina
LF	Van Slyke		CF	Jay
SS	Rollins		1B	Reynolds
P	Frias (R)		P	Wacha (R)

There are a lot of injury updates to get to today, but one important thing to get out of the way: Jimmy Rollins has finally been moved down in the lineup. This feels like it’s a few weeks too late, but it is still welcome to see. Rollins has actually been hitting better lately, but he’s still projected to be well below average offensively by both Steamer and ZiPs (average rest of season projection: 87 wRC+). Justin Turner has been moved up to take his place, which seems fine. At this point, all of the lineup optimization arguments feel pretty inconsequential compared to the problem which just got solved. Now, hopefully this will stick for a few days.

The other change in the lineup is a very welcome one for a struggling offense: Yasmani Grandal is back, re-activated from the concussion DL. At this point, the upgrade from A.J. Ellis to Grandal is almost as big as what is possible at one position. Chris Heisey was optioned to make room for Grandal, which is interesting. As Eric Stephen points out, Heisey is just a few days short of five years of service time, at which point he can refuse a minor league assignment. As a result, Austin Barnes will remain with the big league club. Ellis will probably still remain as the primary back-up catcher, but it will be exciting to see Barnes’ bat in action (even as a pinch hitter). It also means that Don Mattingly will be more likely to pinch hit for Ellis on his catching days, so there’s that.

In other positive recovery news: Yasiel Puig is finally closer to a potential return. He hasn’t played since April 24th due to his bad hamstring, but in Arizona he is facing Brandon League (also significant) and running in curves. Even more importantly, Puig is nearing another rehab assignment, currently scheduled for the end of next week. No, various internet writers, the Dodgers should not trade him. Frankly, the leap in logic from “Dodger offense struggling” to “Dodgers should trade Puig” is unfathomable. Do better.

Carlos Frias starts for the Dodgers tonight. Frias against the Cardinals is pretty scary, and the Cardinals have Matt Holliday back in the lineup tonight after missing last night’s game due to illness. I would say that I’m hoping for a bounce-back from Frias, but it’s hard to do much worse than he did last weekend.

Also worth noting: today’s game is being broadcast on FOX, and is not blacked out in LA. Enjoy.

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