Dodgers @ Padres August 3, 2020: Buehler vs. Paddack

With just three more games to go on their road trip, the Dodgers (7-3) look to continue their recent run of form, sitting at 5-1 so far on this trip. The second place Padres (6-4) are coming off two consecutive losses to the Rockies (6-2), so they’ll hope to get back into the swing of things.

They’ll have a tough task in front of them, as they’ll face Walker Buehler, who’ll be making just his second start of the season. In order to combat this, the Padres will send out their ace, the 24-year-old Chris Paddack.

	6:10 p.m.		San Diego
RF	Pederson (L)	SS	Tatis Jr.
2B	Muncy (L)	CF	Grisham (L)
3B	Turner	3B	Machado
CF	Bellinger (L)	LF	Pham
LF	Pollock	1B	Cronenworth (L)
DH	Seager (L)	RF	Myers
SS	Taylor	DH	Almonte (S)
1B	Beaty (L)	C	Hedges
C	Smith	2B	Profar (S)
P	Buehler (R)	P	Paddack (R)

Corey Seager returns to the lineup, batting sixth in the DH spot after his day off with left quad tightness. Mookie Betts remains out after leaving the game yesterday with a swollen middle finger. Both guys should ultimately be fine, and with the team looking sharp, health is priority right now. Joc Pederson will bat leadoff against the right-handed Paddack, and Cody Bellinger will remain in the cleanup spot. Red-hot AJ Pollock hits fifth, with a current slash line of .370/.433/.704, his 1.137 OPS and 213 wRC+ rank 10th in the MLB.

The Padres currently have four starters with a 148 or higher wRC+ in Tommy Pham (148), Wil Myers (157), Fernando Tatis Jr. (158), and Trent Grisham (164).

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Paddack had a solid season last year, with a 3.33 ERA and 3.95 FIP, good for 2.4 fWAR. However, he faired poorly against the Dodgers with a 5.65 ERA and 5.80 FIP.

Buehler had an excellent season last year with a 3.26 ERA and 3.01 FIP, and he absolutely dominated the Padres, allowing just one run over 15 innings (.60 ERA, 1.21 FIP), while striking out 26. He looks to improve on his season debut where he allowed two runs on three hits over three and two-thirds innings.

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Roberts said Buehler could go 5/75 tonight.

— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 3, 2020

Buehler still isn’t fully built up, but he’s progressing, and the Dodgers bullpen has been able to hold onto leads quite well so far.

#Dodgers Alex Wood reports his arm is feeling better. Will start baseball activities today or tomorrow. Still no timetable for his return.

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 3, 2020

Alex Wood returning sometime in the near future would help out the team, as even if the starters aren’t going deep into games, five or six innings from guys like Wood helps ease the load on the pen.

Scott Alexander, who has diabetes, said he never thought about opting out. He was definitely paying attention to what was happening and asking the doctors & training staff to make sure he was ok to pitch this year.

— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 3, 2020

Scott Alexander reportedly caught COVID-19 just prior to training camp, and has luckily been perfectly fine after. Thus far he’s allowed just two hits over nearly four innings, including striking out the side in one inning yesterday.

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First pitch is at 6:10 PT on SNLA.