Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
…and now, Clayton Kershaw. After winning the first two games of the biggest series of the year to date to put themselves in a very good spot, now the Dodgers merely get to throw out the best pitcher on the planet. It’s almost not fair.
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Giants
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles
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CF
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Pagan
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SS
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Rollins
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LF
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Blanco
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2B
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Utley
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3B
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Duffy
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1B
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Gonzalez
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C
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Posey
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3B
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Turner
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RF
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Byrd
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RF
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Ethier
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1B
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Belt
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LF
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Crawford
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2B
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Tomlinson
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C
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Grandal
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Adrianza
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CF
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Pederson
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P
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Leake (R)
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P
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Kershaw (L)
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You’ll notice that Kershaw is not being caught by A.J. Ellis, but rather by Yasmani Grandal. Why? Because Mike Leake is starting, and Leake is a righty who has a big platoon split. As we’ve been saying for a while, it’s not personal catchers, it’s platoon catchers. One would hope that Grandal will receive ample time to rest that troublesome shoulder with third catcher Austin Barnes in the mix, but I also understand that despite how well the last week has gone, it’s too early to start getting into “rest your guys” mode, especially against your main competitor.
Only one roster move today, and that’s that outfielder Scott Schebler was called up. Schebler, who was up for one game with the Dodgers back in early June, hit… huh. That’s a surprisingly poor .241/.322/.410 line in Triple-A, and I say that because last year in Double-A, his line was .280/.365/.556. I mean, even getting to the bigs is a huge deal for a guy who was a 26th-rounder back in 2010, but he’s obviously just depth, which is a perfectly fine thing to have in September.
We know that Mike Bolsinger, who was activated yesterday, is in line to make a start, probably this weekend against the Padres. I don’t really love the idea of a six-man rotation for a lot of reasons, but I do like the idea of seeing more Bolsinger. (And this isn’t necessarily a true “six-man rotation” so much as it is a single start.) When the Dodgers get to the playoffs, there’s going to be some interesting decisions about that bullpen, now that it’s come back to life and either Alex Wood and/or Mat Latos won’t be in the October rotation. I’m not sure if there’s room for Bolsinger there, but I’d like to think there’s at least a chance.
Finally, some not-great news about Howie Kendrick:
Howie Kendrick is still not 100%. Once he's able to run full speed, he'll be cleared for rehab/sim games. Dodgers being cautious
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) September 2, 2015
