Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers are looking to avoid their second sweep at the hand of the Reds, the team that swept four games from them at Dodger Stadium back in May.
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Dodgers
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Reds
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9:35 a.m.
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Cincinnati
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LF
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Pederson |
RF
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Schebler | |
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3B
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Turner |
SS
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Peraza | |
| SS | Machado |
1B
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Votto | |
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1B
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Muncy |
3B
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Suarez | |
| C | Grandal |
2B
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Gennett | |
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CF
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Bellinger |
C
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Barnhart | |
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2B
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Hernandez | LF | Williams | |
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RF
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Puig |
P
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DeSclafani (R) | |
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P
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Stripling (R)
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CF
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Hamilton
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This team is maddeningly inconsistent, and the fact that they’re struggling this much against a last-place team (that does have some nice pieces) doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for a postseason run or even a run to get them into the postseason. Luckily, the Rockies lost last night, so the NL West deficit is just 1 1/2 games, but the Dodgers have to, you know, win for Rockies’ losses to matter.
Ross Stripling is making a spot-start for the Dodgers. He’s expected to go three innings in a game they absolutely have to have. This isn’t a commentary on the fact that he’s slated for three innings, it’s more of a commentary on the fact the Dodgers need to beat the Reds one time this season and they’re going with a bullpen game. Sigh.
Justin Turner, who didn’t start yesterday, is back in the lineup today. Dodger Twitter was pissed Turner was out, which is and isn’t surprising. Turner has needed plenty of rest since becoming a full-time player. This isn’t a new phenomenon. I get the anger about sitting your best hitter in a tight playoff race, but if Turner is used too much without rest, he could (and probably would) start to struggle. There is plenty of evidence of this over the past three years.
One other note about the lineup: Yasmani Grandal is starting a day game after a night game. That’s rare these days for any catcher, but especially one like Grandal. This just shows how bad Austin Barnes has been this season and how much the Dodgers don’t trust the immediate catching depth behind Barnes. Please be good Keibert Ruiz and/or Will Smith.
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Alex Wood won’t start on Sunday, chance he’s pushed back to Monday according to Dave Roberts. Stripling may start on short rest Sunday depending on how today’s game unfolds. #Dodgers
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) September 12, 2018
Alex Wood was bad on Monday, so a little extra rest could do him some good. Starting Stripling on short rest, even if today’s start will be abbreviated, seems a little out there considering there are approximately 256 pitchers on the active roster.
Here are the pitching matchups for the rest of the Cardinals’ series.
Dodgers/Cardinals probable pitchers:
THU: Kershaw/Gomber
FRI: Buehler/Flaherty
SAT: Hill/Gant
SUN: TBD/Wainwright— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) September 12, 2018
Walker Buehler vs. Jack Flaherty, Round 2, should be a dandy.
Dave Roberts on matchup baseball and the amorphous daily lineup: “It’s something I believe in. Our players have to accept it. Because this is the way it’s got to be with our roster.”
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) September 12, 2018
Basically. I don’t understand folks wanting to put players in a position with greater odds of failure.
Outside of Max Muncy, pretty much every platoon guy on the Dodgers has earned his platoon status.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) September 12, 2018
A couple of smart and probably handsome Dodger bloggers wrote about this recently: here and here.
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I wrote this at the end of my recap for True Blue LA last night.
“If the Dodgers end up missing the playoffs, losing (at least) six games to the last-place Reds is going to stand out like a clutch hit with runners in scoring position.”
So here’s a novel concept: Don’t get swept again by the Literally Cincinnati Reds.
