Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers have won three in a row entering this series against the Rockies, scoring nine runs in each of those last three games against the Giants. They’re now 51-25, with a ten game lead over Colorado (40-34). The Rockies will look to lessen that gap tonight, with their 24-year-old ace in German Marquez on the mound. The Dodgers will counter with their own 24-year-old, Walker Buehler, making this a prime matchup between two of the most talented young pitchers in the game.
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Rockies
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles
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RF
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Blackmon |
LF
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Pederson | |
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LF
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Dahl |
CF
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Verdugo | |
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3B
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Arenado |
3B
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Turner | |
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1B
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Murphy |
RF
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Bellinger | |
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2B
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McMahon |
2B
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Muncy | |
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CF
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Desmond |
1B
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Beaty | |
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SS
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Rodgers | SS | Taylor | |
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C
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Wolters |
C
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Barnes | |
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P
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Marquez (R) |
P
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Buehler (R) |
Walker Buehler (3.06 ERA, 2.90 FIP) has been on fire as of late, and is on his way to solidifying himself among the league’s aces. Of 110 starters with 60+ innings pitched, his 0.92 WHIP is third behind only Justin Verlander (0.74) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (0.82). His 3.06 ERA is 19th in the league, and his FIP of 2.90 is fifth. His 4.0% walk-rate is also the third lowest in baseball.This is all before looking at just his recent run of form. Over his last nine starts and 58.1 innings, Buehler has a 2.16 ERA, 2.50 FIP and 0.82 WHIP. Over that stretch he’s struck out 66 batters while walking just five. He currently has allowed only one run over his last 22 innings, on nine hits and one walk. That’s a 0.45 WHIP. He’s been ridiculous.
German Marquez (4.57 ERA, 3.66 FIP) sits 94-96 MPH with his fastball, equally mixing in an impressive slider and curve. He’s always a tough matchup. He started in the game 163 tie breaker at the end of the 2018 season, allowing homers to both Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger. He only recorded 14 outs in that start, but still managed nine via strikeout. At the same time, he’s coming off his worst three starts of the season. He gave up seven runs over 5.2 innings against the Padres in his previous start, and has allowed 19 runs over his last 18 innings. Removing those three blowup starts, he has a 3.48 ERA, 3.30 FIP and a 1.14 WHIP on the season. His 71 FIP- over that span would be 14th among 110 qualified starters. Obviously removing those three starts drastically affects his numbers for the better, but he’s very talented and won’t continue allowing over a run per inning. Based on his impressive track record, it’s likely he reverts to the pitcher he was over his first 13 starts sooner rather than later.
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Cody Bellinger was the leading vote getter in the National League, beating out Christian Yelich.
Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock both bring a ton to this lineup and it’s good to see progression towards eventual returns. Luckily, the Dodgers have a massive lead in the division to go along with the best record in baseball.
Scott Alexander still seems a ways away from returning, as does Rich Hill obviously, and there hasn’t been any official update on Hill’s replacement in the starting rotation.
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First pitch is at 7:10 PT on SNLA.
