Padres @ Dodgers August 10, 2020: May opens the rematch against San Diego

A late rally yesterday propelled the Dodgers to an 11-5 record and a hard-fought series win against the Giants. It would behoove the Dodgers to get their bats going early today, as they open a series with one of the better offensive teams so far this season.

The Dodgers took two of three when they squared off with the Padres in San Diego last week, and since then each team has won two of three (the Dodgers against SF and the Padres against Arizona).

	6:40 p.m.		Los Angeles
SS	Tatis Jr.	LF	Pederson (L)
CF	Grisham (L)	RF	Betts
3B	Machado	CF	Bellinger (L)
LF	Pham	3B	Turner
1B	Hosmer (L)	2B	Muncy (L)
RF	Myers	SS	Taylor
2B	Cronenworth (L)	DH	Beaty (L)
C	Hedges	1B	Rios (L)
DH	Profar (S)	C	Smith
P	Perdomo (R)	P	May (R)

Dustin May makes his fourth start of the season and his second consecutive start against San Diego. In all likelihood it will be his final start with “prospect” status, as May will surpass 50 career innings pitched in the second inning today.

Dustin May will officially cede prospect eligibility if/when he finishes the second inning tonight.

Tony Gonsolin is six innings away whenever he makes his next appearance, and Edwin Rios & Dennis Santana should also cede eligibility at some point this year due to service time.

— Future Dodgers (@FutureDodgers) August 10, 2020

May made headlines in his last outing against the Padres, throwing a number of ridiculous pitches, including this one (that was filthy despite missing its spot real bad).

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1290822220567191554

May set a new career-high last time out, striking out eight Padres over six innings of two-run ball. He allowed three hits and issued one walk, and surrendered a homer to the best player in baseball, Jake Cronenworth. May has allowed four runs and 13 hits in 13 2/3 innings so far this season and has struck out 15 batters with only 3 walks. Not bad for a 22-year-old.

Garrett Richards was originally lined up to start today, but the Padres will send Luis Perdomo to the hill and save Richards for tomorrow. Perdomo only made one start last year and all three of his appearances this season have been in relief. He didn’t pitch against the Dodgers in the previous series, but has struggled hard against them in his career. In 13 appearances against LA, Dodger batters own a .345/.399/.553 triple slash (219 plate appearances). He only threw 4 2/3 innings against the 2019 Dodgers and didn’t allow a run in the three games.

Perdomo has been a three-pitch pitcher this season, throwing a splitter 41.8 percent of the time, a sinker 38.8 percent of the time and a slider 19.4 percent of the time. He’s yet to allow a hit on his sinker so far (only 26 pitches). Last season, opponents hit .307 with a .427 slugging percentage against it.

Corey Seager remains out of the lineup for the Dodgers, with Chris Taylor getting the start at short. Edwin Rios starts at first base with Max Muncy sliding over to second. Mookie Betts gets his first look at the Padres as a Dodger, as he missed the first series with a finger injury. Eric Hosmer also missed the first series for the Padres, and he starts at first tonight. Fernando Tatis Jr. leads off for the Padres. He hit two homers against the Dodgers in San Diego and hit four in the three-game series against Arizona. He is good #analysis.

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Joe Kelly won’t be pitching for a bit.

The Dodgers placed Joe Kelly on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation and recalled Adam Kolarek.

Kelly goes on the IL not yet hearing a ruling for the appeal of his 8-game suspension. So expect him to serve the suspension — however long it is — when he’s activated.

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) August 10, 2020

A ruling still hasn’t been made on his suspension appeal, but Kelly’s been placed on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. Whatever suspension he has will likely be served when he’s off the IL. Adam Kolarek is back with the team after being sent down when rosters shrunk last Thursday.

Seager is still not being considered an IL candidate.

Seager is still not an IL candidate right now. Roberts said the depth of this team allows them to wait to see how Seager progresses.

— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 10, 2020

Corey Seager testing his back in shallow left field under the supervision and guidance of #Dodgers strength and conditioning coach and trainers.

— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) August 10, 2020

Seager hasn’t played since he was pulled from Friday’s game in the third inning with back pain.

Alex Wood is throwing a bullpen today.

There is no real timetable yet for Alex Wood’s return. But if all goes well today, he’ll throw another bullpen session on Thursday

— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) August 10, 2020

It’ll be interesting to see what role Wood comes into when he returns. May and Ross Stripling have been pitching well, so it’s pretty easy to make the argument that Wood isn’t one of the five best starters on the Dodgers for the moment.

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Will Smith is starting his second consecutive game, the first time a Dodger catcher has done that in 2020.

Austin Barnes starts tomorrow but Dave Roberts expects Will Smith to catch 3 of the 4 games this series.

— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) August 10, 2020

A moment of silence for that guy that was in Stacie’s mentions the other day calling Barnes a great catcher. Dongs aren’t everything, but Smith’s last homer was his 17th in 232 Major League plate appearances (Barnes has 17 in 841 plate appearances). Barnes is great behind the plate and still calls a strong game, but it is nice when the Dodgers don’t have a seemingly automatic out in the lineup.

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Chad, always bringing the important questions.

Joc actually seems to be taking it seriously, but I'm not sure he can overcome a late-night donut craving, so I think that's the bet. https://t.co/28heHwYnUE

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 10, 2020

#Content

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First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM PST and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.