Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
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D’Backs
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Dodgers
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5:10 PM PDT
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Los Angeles
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2B
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Segura |
2B
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Utley | |
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SS
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Owings |
SS
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Seager | |
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CF
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Pollock |
3B
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Turner | |
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1B
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Goldschmidt |
1B
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Gonzalez | |
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3B
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Lamb |
C
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Grandal | |
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C
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Castillo |
RF
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Reddick | |
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RF
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Tomas | LF | Kendrick | |
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LF
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Brito |
CF
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Pederson | |
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P
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Greinke (R)
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P
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Maeda (R)
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I suppose we can’t do a game thread about this game without spending time on Zack Greinke, who makes his return to Dodger Stadium tonight for the Diamondbacks. Last week, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Dodgers had interest in trading for Greinke. However, from a distance, I’m not so sure that is entirely true.
First of all, if the Dodgers really wanted Greinke back, admitting they made a mistake by letting him go, they would have claimed him on waivers, which they did not (he cleared). Second, given the decision they made to let him walk over an extra year and extra money, how would that decision change over this year? Surely they could use him in the rotation right now, but looking at his numbers, he’s not quite been himself. Greinke’s 96 ERA- and 87 FIP- are still good, and he’s been fine (other than a DL stint) since mid-May or so, but part of the appeal of Greinke is that he was supposedly immune to underpitching his peripherals. On the whole, 2016 has been a down year for Greinke, and with that extra year of information, it’s hard to see why the Dodgers would reverse course on their previous decision. The way those conversations likely went was as follows:
Dodgers: Hey, do you want to trade Greinke?
D-Backs: Maybe.
Dodgers: What if you ate $50MM of his contract and gave you no prospects?
D-Backs: No.
Dodgers: Bye.
It was surely a good news story for FOX, but it’s hard to imagine much of substance actually happening there.
Anyways, there’s actually a game happening today too. The Dodgers are employing what looks to be their normal lineup against right-handed pitching. Yasiel Puig is sitting in favor of Josh Reddick, with Howie Kendrick still in left field and Andrew Toles on the bench. The Diamondbacks are stronger than the last time the Dodgers faced them, with A.J. Pollock back in center field. Speaking of Pollock, he found a praying mantis and handed it to a fan earlier this week, which is horrifying.
Also, this is happening:
[table id=5 /]MLB Network to air Vin Scully tribute before D’backs-Dodgers tonight https://t.co/0upP3qf5mV pic.twitter.com/s2q1KRnCx0
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 5, 2016
