D’backs @ Dodgers March 28, 2019: Opening Day, plus 25-man roster

Welcome to another season of Dodger baseball. The season opens today at home against the Diamondbacks — a team that looks a lot different than it has in the last couple years.

Zack Greinke, Arizona’s starter, still exists, but there was a lot of turnover in the desert over the winter. Dodger killers Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock are no longer with the org, but Dodger killer Nick Ahmed is still around. And David Peralta is quietly one of the better hitters in the National League. Still, the D’backs 2019 outlook isn’t great.

	Diamondbacks			Dodgers
	1:10 p.m.			Los Angeles
RF	Jones		LF	Pederson
3B	Escobar		SS	Seager
2B	Flores		3B	Turner
LF	Peralta		1B	Muncy
1B	Walker		CF	Pollock
CF	Marte		RF	Bellinger
SS	Ahmed		2B	Hernandez
C	Murphy		C	Barnes
P	Greinke (R)		P	Ryu (L)

For the time being, this appears to be what the Dodgers’ lineup against right-handed pitching will look like.

Before the game, the Dodgers announced their official 25-man roster. It is as follows:

Rotation (5)

Hyun-Jin Ryu
Ross Stripling
Kenta Maeda
Walker Buehler
Julio Urias

Bullpen (8)

Scott Alexander
Pedro Baez
Yimi Garcia
Dylan Floro
Kenley Jansen
Joe Kelly
Brock Stewart

Catcher (2)

Austin Barnes
Russell Martin

Infielders (5)

David Freese
Enrique Hernandez
Max Muncy
Corey Seager
Justin Turner

Outfielders (5)

Cody Bellinger
A.J. Pollock
Joc Pederson
Chris Taylor
Alex Verdugo

Injured List (2)

Tony Cingrani
Clayton Kershaw

I’ll admit, it is weird that Clayton Kershaw isn’t starting Opening Day for the first time in nearly a decade (remember Vicente Padilla?). But, he’ll be back at some point. Ryu gets the OD nod.

No surprises on the roster. Stewart over Dennis Santana was the final roster spot to be determined. It’s better that Santana continues to develop in the minors as a starting pitcher. He will be up at some point later this season.

One bit of news before we get started here.

Thank you Chicago @Cubs.

I’m excited to continue my career with the Los Angeles @Dodgers organization. #nextchapter pic.twitter.com/1yzZlXkRBM

— Rob Zastryzny (@RobZastryzny_8) March 28, 2019

The Dodgers signed former Cub Rob Zastrnzny to a minor-league deal. In 34 career innings, he has a 4.41 ERA, 3.76 FIP and a 9.7 K-BB%. He has a pretty extensive starting career — 79 starts, 446 innings — but he’s been mostly a reliever the last couple of seasons. He’ll be hanging around Oklahoma City for depth and could be up if the Dodgers need a left-handed pitcher and Cingrani is out for a long while.

Also, if you’re the sucker good employee/student who’s at work/school, it’s not too late to try this:

This will work. We promise.

Limited number of #OpeningDayLA tickets available at https://t.co/DZQkfNw0Kj. pic.twitter.com/i3CfqpIYkr

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 27, 2019

Now, let’s baseball.