Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Joc Pederson is out of the lineup again as Enrique Hernandez starts in center field, though that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. As we discussed yesterday, Cincinnati throwing back-to-back lefties (David Holmberg tonight) made that a near-inevitability. Is it a benching, or a platoon? I’ll say the former if Pederson isn’t in there tomorrow afternoon against a righty, which seems particularly unlikely.
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Dodgers
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Reds
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4:05 p.m. PT
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Cincinnati, Ohio
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SS
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Rollins
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CF
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Bourgeois
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RF
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Puig
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SS
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Suarez
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1B
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Gonzalez
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1B
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Votto
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3B
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Turner
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2B
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Phillips
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LF
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Van Slyke
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3B |
Frazier
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2B
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Utley
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RF
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Bruce
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C
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Ellis
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LF
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De Jesus
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Hernandez
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C
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Pena
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P
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Anderson (L)
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P
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Holmberg (L)
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Otherwise, the non-pitcher lineups for both sides are identical to what they were last night, save for Brayan Pena stepping in for Tucker Barnhart at catcher for the Reds.
Again, none of that is surprising. We knew A.J. Ellis would get a second start in place of Yasmani Grandal as Grandal rests his shoulder; we didn’t expect Pederson, Andre Ethier, or Carl Crawford to get back into the lineup against a lefty. (That’s a big “nah” to Alex Guerrero, I guess.) Tomorrow afternoon, in a matinee against righty Anthony DeSclafani before a flight back to Los Angeles to face the Cubs on Friday, expect nearly the entire lineup to have turned over.
Speaking of things that could happen with the lineup, look at Chase Utley:
Utley took ground balls at third base for a few minutes. Don Mattingly, Tim Wallach and Ron Roenicke watched. They all just left the field.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) August 26, 2015
Did it go well? Not? Uncertain yet.
We’ve not yet seen what happens at third base behind Justin Turner now that Alberto Callaspo is gone, and presumably Guerrero would be the first man up. But Guerrero hasn’t hit in months, and if he’s not hitting, certainly his defense isn’t carrying him. If it’s not him, it’s Hernandez or Utley, and I think that’s where it gets interesting. Let’s say Turner sits tomorrow, and Pederson plays. If Hernandez and Utley both return to the infield, which one plays where? I would think Hernandez would be better suited to third, since his experience as Jimmy Rollins‘ backup at shortstop has at least had him on the left side of the infield.
But also, that’s all speculation. Tomorrow’s lineup will be a fascinating one. Today’s is a lot more straight-forward. Guess we should get through Brett Anderson vs the Reds before we worry about anything else.
