Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
It’s another getaway day with an incredibly early start to torture poor Chad.
Clayton Kershaw will look to bounce back from what was probably his worst start of 2023, while Wade Miley will face the Dodgers once again, but for just the second time since the 2018 NLCS.
Despite a rough opening to the series and the explosion of Noah Syndergaard‘s finger last night, the Dodgers have a chance for a fourth consecutive series win. And while they haven’t played particularly well over the past week, this morning/afternoon’s game offers the opportunity for a third win against a left-handed starter in the past six games.
Yesterday’s four runs on four hits and two walks against Eric Lauer bumped the Dodgers up to 29th against left-handed pitching with a .197 average, 24th in OPS at .689 and a 90 wRC+ still 23rd. And yet, they have 16 home runs against lefties to rank fifth in the league with a HR/FB rate of 15.4% that is third.
Oh and the Dodgers’ 22-15 record means they are currently on a 96-win pace, sit second in the National League and are only three games behind last season’s record through 37 games. Of course that pace is going to be difficult to keep up with as the 2022 Dodgers won 13 of 15 games between May 15 and May 29.
 |
 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:40 AM | Milwaukee | ||
| RF | Betts | 2B | Miller |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | C | Contreras |
| DH | Smith | SS | Adames |
| 3B | Taylor | LF | Yelich (L) |
| 2B | Vargas | DH | Brosseau |
| CF | Outman (L) | 3B | Anderson |
| SS | Rojas | 1B | Voit |
| LF | Thompson | RF | Taylor |
| C | Barnes | CF | Wiemer |
| P | Kershaw (L) | P | Miley (L) |
Will Smith stays in the lineup as Austin Barnes takes over behind the plate for the early first pitch. Max Muncy gets the day off against another lefty while Mookie Betts (.563/..611/.1.000/1.611 in 16 at-bats) and Freddie Freeman (.300/.333/.600/.933 in 20 at-bats) are atop the order with pretty strong career numbers against Miley.
It didn’t work yesterday, so hopefully I can reverse jinx Trayce Thompson who is now 0 for his past 27 at-bats with 17 strikeouts and four walks. I unfortunately am now also going to point out Thompson is now past the halfway point to Eugenio Vélez’s franchise record of 46 at-bats without a hit.
As for the Brewers, Kershaw on the mound for an early start allows them to get a few players the day off as Jesse Winker, Rowdy Tellez and Brice Turang are out of the starting lineup today.
——
Miley will face the Dodgers for the 17th time in the regular season, in addition to his two (I guess technically three) starts against the Dodgers in the 2018 NLCS. With 15 of those starts coming between 2011 and 2018 as a member of the D-backs or Brewers, Miley’s most recent meeting with the Dodgers came in 2021 when he was pitching for the Reds. Lasting just 3 innings, Miley allowed six runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out just two batters. The Dodgers put up a trio of home runs against Miley before he was finally removed, with Will Smith, Gavin Lux and Corey Seager all going deep at Great American Ball Park.
Across his 16 regular season starts against the Dodgers, Miley has allowed an .802 OPS as the 17 home runs Los Angeles has hit off Miley are the most by any opponent. The Dodgers’ 34 walks are also tied for the most with Los Angeles still trailing the Rockies, Padres and Cubs for PAs against Miley.
Miley, whose 2023 comparison for velocity and movement is the unemployed Madison Bumgarner, enters Wednesday’s game with a 2.31 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 5.00 xFIP and 93 Stuff+. A 15.0 K% is the third lowest in his 13-year MLB career, but a 4.3 BB% is in fact the best of his career. While his Whiff% is among the lowest in the league, Miley’s Chase Contact of 75.9% is helping generate a low average exit velocity and Hard Hit %.
The two left-handed batters in the Dodgers order are going to see nearly 50% cutters with sliders coming about a quarter of the time and an 89.3 mph four-seamer a little less than 20% of the time. Right-handed batters get a pretty even split of cutters and changeups followed by four-seamers about 27% of the time. Miley’s cutter (86.1), changeup (82.3) and slider (78.5) are all going to come out pretty slow, and a one or two mph slower than they were back in 2018.
——
Meanwhile, Kershaw is back on the mound after walking five against the Padres while allowing four runs and eight hits in just 4 2/3 innings. The walk total was his highest in a single game since he walked five Padres back on Aug. 1, 2019 Kershaw did still generate 16 misses on 41 swings, led by 10 on 21 sliders and four on eight curves.
Christian Yelich‘s 9-for-19 career line against Kershaw is the best of anyone in the Brewers’ lineup, and includes a pair of home runs to five strikeouts and three walks.
——
Syndergaard’s blister/cut/massive wound survived a throwing session today, which is either great news or terrible news depending on your opinion of him.
——
Also, there’s no roster move to mention in the bullpen because the Dodgers elected not to make one.
——
First pitch is scheduled for 10:40 a.m. PT on SportsNet LA and MLB Network.
