Dodgers @ Padres August 4, 2020: May looks to even the series

The Dodgers dropped the opener in San Diego last night, as Walker Buehler struggled through five innings (somehow only giving up three runs) and the bullpen had another rough outing. The Dodgers look to even the series up tonight, facing another high-velocity Padre starter.

	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)	DH	Pham
DH	Seager (L)	1B	Cronenworth (L)
LF	Beaty (L)	LF	Almonte (S)
1B	Rios (L)	2B	Garcia (L)
SS	Hernández	C	Mejia (S)
C	Barnes	RF	Naylor (L)
P	May (R)	P	Lamet (R)

Dustin May gets the ball for the third time this season. He labored last time out in Houston, needing 76 pitches to get through 3 1/3 innings. May allowed only three hits and one run, but didn’t give the Dodgers much length. Early-season stats are generally wonky, but May has a 2.25 ERA/2.00 FIP despite a 1.565 WHIP in his first two starts of the season. Not bad for a guy who was thrust into the rotation (and has kept his spot) due to injuries.

May made two starts and had two relief appearances against the Padres in 2019. His major league debut came in LA against the Padres, and May allowed three runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He pitched better in his August start in San Diego, allowing two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings but still took the loss. May pitched back-to-back relief appearances in late September in San Diego, tossing perfect innings in each game with two strikeouts each inning.

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While Chris Paddack was tabbed for the Padres’ Opening Day start, Dinelson Lamet has thrown his hat into the ring as the Padres’ ace thus far. Lamet opened the season with five innings of one-run ball against the Diamondbacks and followed it up with five more innings of one-run ball in San Francisco. He’s struck out 15 batters in 10 innings so far this season but did struggle with command last time out, walking four Giant batters.

Lamet made his debut in 2017 and posted a 4.57 ERA/4.35 FIP in 114.1 innings, but showcased filthy stuff that helped him rack up 139 strikeouts and only 54 walks as a rookie. His 2018 season was cut down with Tommy John surgery following an injury suffered in Spring Training. Lamet returned last season and posted a 4.07 ERA/3.91 ERA, but struck out 105 batters with only 30 walks in 73 innings.

According to Baseball Savant, Lamet has only thrown three different types of pitches this season. He’s thrown a slider 51.5 percent of the time, a four-seam fastball 38 percent and a sinker 10.5 percent of the time. Sometimes pitch classifications could be iffy, but if that’s correct he’s seemingly ditched his curveball, which he threw over 30 percent of the time in 2019. He averages 97.1 MPH on his fastball and touched 100 in his start against Arizona.

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Mookie Betts remains out of the lineup for the Dodgers (more on that in a bit). Corey Seager DH’s again, with Enrique Hernandez getting the start at short tonight. Matt Beaty starts in left and Edwin Rios gets the start at first.

Continuing with the “opposing team calls up a top prospect against the Dodgers” trend, the Padres promoted their No. 3 prospect Luis Patino before the game and will have him in the bullpen.

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Betts’ middle finger has reportedly improved, but not enough to play tonight.

Dave Roberts on Mookie Betts' finger: "The swelling has dissipated some, but still not where we feel comfortable having him out there. The hope is to get him back in there tomorrow."

— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) August 4, 2020

Betts tried to swing a bat in the cage last night but experienced a lot of discomfort, Roberts said.

— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) August 4, 2020

That second tweet is less optimistic than the first, but hopefully Betts returns sooner rather than later.

In better injury news, Seager is expected to start at short tomorrow rather than DH.

Meanwhile, Operation Free Joe Kelly is off to a slow start.

#Dodgers Dave Roberts said team has not heard yet from MLB about Joe Kelly's appeal of his suspension.

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 4, 2020

The Dodgers are hoping to have word of the suspension by the end of the week.

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Justin Turner has made a couple insane throws already this season.

Dave Roberts said Justin Turner and Austin Barnes have worked with pitching coordinator Rob Hill from Driveline Baseball on improving their throwing arms and mechanics.

— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) August 4, 2020

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An MLB rule change that will impact all teams.

Union telling players that roster size will reduce to from 30 and 28 on Thursday and remain at that level for the rest of the season and postseason, source tells The Athletic. Taxi squad will be expanded from three players to five players for remainder of the season.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 4, 2020

Each team will be losing two players from their active roster beginning Thursday. The big change here is that rosters will remain at 28 through the rest of the season. Originally, rosters were expected to shrink again in a couple weeks down to 26.

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First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 PM and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.