Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (79-33) and the Diamondbacks (64-48) square off once again, with the Dodgers taking another shot at being the first team to 80 wins this year. Alex Wood (2.33 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 3.11 DRA), who’s been dealing with fatigue, will take the mound with hopes of rediscovering some of the speed he’s been missing in his past couple of starts.
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Dodgers
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D’backs
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6:40 PM PT
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Arizona
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LF
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Taylor |
LF
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Peralta | |
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SS
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Seager |
2B
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Rosales | |
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3B
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Turner |
CF
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Pollock | |
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1B
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Bellinger |
1B
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Goldschmidt | |
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C
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Grandal |
RF
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Martinez | |
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2B
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Utley |
SS
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Marte | |
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CF
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Pederson | 3B | Lamb | |
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RF
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Puig |
C
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Mathis | |
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P
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Wood (L) |
P
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Greinke (R) |
Wood’s velocity has been declining as the season progresses, as Brim noted on Twitter last week:
A thing I'm not enthused about with Alex Wood is his velocity trend. Noticed he was 90-91 in the first inning today. pic.twitter.com/xBePHyiysn
— Daniel Brim (@DanielBrim) August 4, 2017
The Dodgers considered skipping Wood’s start, but a mechanical adjustment brought life back to his fastball. Instead, they shuffled the rotation to push him back a bit, and he’ll be pitching on six days’ rest today. It should be noted that for the entire season, the Dodgers have been playing it somewhat cautious with Wood, as he’s made most of his 2017 starts on more days of rest than the traditional four.
Six of Wood’s 17 starts have come on six days’ rest, while seven of his starts have been on five days’ rest. While the sample size isn’t huge, it’s worth noting that Wood has gotten much better results on six days’ rest than he has on five days’ rest. On six days’ rest this year, Wood has a 2.27 ERA in 35.2 IP, and he’s struck out 39 batters versus eight walks. Batters are hitting .183/.243/.254 against him in such games. On five days’ rest, he has a 3.76 ERA in 40.2 IP, and he’s struck out 40 batters versus 11 walks. Batters are hitting .264/.320/.396 in such games.
Wood has faced the D’backs three times this year, and he’s allowed just four runs across 15 innings. His most recent start against them came on July 5 in Los Angeles, and he pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out 10.
Zack Greinke (3.10 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 2.55 DRA) will start against his former team for the second time this year, and the fourth time since he became a Diamondback. He has not fared well when he’s gone up against the Dodgers:
Zack Greinke has made 4 starts v #Dodgers since joining DBacks — 1-3, 6.35 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, .316 BA vs, 7 2B 1 3B 6 HR in 22 2/3 IP
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 9, 2017
We’ll see if his former team can bring the pain again tonight.
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We got updates on injured Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, Andre Ethier and Julio Urías today:
#Dodgers Dave Roberts said Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to throw off mound Friday in LA
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 9, 2017
Andre Ethier participated in sim game yesterday. Will start a rehab program with Rancho in the coming days. #Dodgers
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 9, 2017
No timetable on Urias throwing, but optimistic about a full recovery, Roberts said.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) August 9, 2017
Scott Kazmir was also present in the Dodgers’ clubhouse this afternoon.
Yu Darvish will be making his Dodger Stadium debut a week from today:
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/895431214169038848
That’ll be a good one to snag tickets for.
Here’s a full look at the rotation for the upcoming week:
After Wood tonight, rotation next 6 games: Darvish, Hill, Ryu, Maeda, (off day) Wood, Darvish. #Dodgers
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 9, 2017
Finally, in case you missed it, the Dodgers revealed the nicknames they’ll be using for Players Weekend later this month. Dustin highlighted the best ones earlier today.
