For the first time in nearly a month, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won a series. It came by a two-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners at home, perhaps sparking a turnaround for the team. The late three-run homer by Gavin Lux on Tuesday night can very well be the turning point for that frustrating couple of weeks.
Although the Dodgers are back to their winning ways, the injury bug continues to bite. Right-hander Infielder Edwin Rios is out for the year, the Dodgers announced earlier this week. Both utility infielder Zach McKinstry and outfielder Cody Bellinger still have no firm timetable for their respective returns.
Currently, there hasn’t been an announcement as to which pitcher will take the fifth spot in the starting rotation. Tony Gonsolin and David Price seem to be likely candidates once they return from the injured list. During the offseason, many folks talked a lot about how tremendous the Dodgers depth was, and it surely is being tested now. With an off day Thursday and on Monday, the rotation has had rest. The no. 5 most likely will be Gonsolin, depending on how soon he can get back on track.
As of now, the Dodgers sit third in the National League West, three games behind the San Francisco Giants and half a game from the Padres. The Dodgers and Giants still have not met this season, but they are due to have two series in the next two weeks, with the first being one week from today in the Bay Area.
First off, however, the Dodgers welcome the Miami Marlins for a three-game weekend series. The Marlins currently post a record of 17-20 and are fourth in the very tight National League East. They come in on a two-game winning streak beating the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The pitching matchup set for the first game is right-hander Sandy Alcantara against Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw did not go too far in his last outing, only pitching five innings on three days rest after manager Dave Roberts pulled him out early in a game that the Dodgers scored 14 runs against the Angels. In those five innings, Kershaw only allowed two hits and one walk. So far this year, he’s posted a 5-3 record with a 2.62 ERA. The right-handed Alcantara has a 1-2 record with a 2.72 ERA.
Set for Saturday and Sunday are Trevor Bauer and Walker Buehler for the Dodgers. The Marlins have not announced a starter for Saturday, but announced that right-hander Pablo Lopez will start on Sunday. Lopez is 0-3 with a 3.07 ERA.
After concluding this series with Miami, the Dodgers will close out the homestand with a four-game series against Arizona, which will be the first time the division foes meet this year.
The first pitch for Friday’s opener is set for 7:10 p.m. Pacific.
Let’s hope the Dodgers can build off this mini winning streak.
Dodgers should sweep. Best 3 pitchers going. Miami has some good arms, but their offense is suspect. Beaty needs to be in there now, but Pollock is expected to start.
I’m not saying we couldn’t sweep Bear, but “should sweep”? You must be kidding. Over the past two weeks our guys have shown there are numerous times when they can’t hit even mediocre pitching and the Marlins starters are way above average. Their offense may be suspect but if we only score a couple of runs a couple of runs in a game we could easily come out on the short end.
I hope that by Sunday evening I can come back here and apologize for doubting you. I’ll be happy if we take 2 out of 3.
Bear is seldom wrong…..I hope
https://twitter.com/azfreedman/status/1393292666419417093
https://twitter.com/jorgecastillo/status/1393311088708489216
Jones was excellent with the White Sox………………………………..in 2015 and 2016. Unfortunately he hasn’t pitched very well in the last 5 years.
Blankenhorn fills a huge need for us, a left handed hitter off the bench who can alternate with right handed Sheldon Neuse when we DFA Beaty and trade CT3.
He’s had a fantastic MLB career with a .333 lifetime batting average and .500 OBP. Those totals were amassed in 2 games and 4 plate appearances. Maybe we’ll have to stipulate MSS here (Microscopic Sample Size).
An OPS+ of 224. You just can’t argue that level of success. Hit him in the cleanup spot.
Sorry, that spot belongs to Mr. Muncy. He cannot be moved.
Let them both hit 4th. 4A and 4B.
One down two to go……Karnac the magnificent lives.
I bet you were a little nervous there for awhile Karnac.
We’re all rooting for you!
Kershaw with a strange line – 5 earned in 6 with 11 Ks. Santana with a WHIP, around 2 and an ERA around 8. Yoiks.
Never a doubt
Well Bear, I’m very sorry that I don’t have to apologize for being wrong about a sweep.
Never doubt El Jefe (or any Shlemming for that matter).
I really wish that you’d been right, but all things considered, it was an OK series. We didn’t waste our important bullpen guys today and almost pulled out the game even with 13 guys on the IL. Considering everything, two games out at this point in the season really isn’t bad at all.
We’ve been talking about why AF would bother with Tsutsugo and I saw something on Twitter that said the Dodger batting guys are convinced he’s hitting totally differently than he did in Japan where he had great success. Maybe they can straighten him out. If not, they move on. I know Tmax is really excited to see him. 🙂
Well my take is that they should have won. They blew numerous opportunities and Raley is no Taylor. He Used Ruiz way to soon in my eyes, and Mookie should have been held at 3rd. He was out from me to you.
Well, I’m thinking you probably won’t have Raley to kick around any longer once they activate Tsutsugo tomorrow. And I think Price is coming back also so I’m guessing Uceta goes (although it could be Santana or White). Then when they activate Pujols in the next couple of days, I’m guessing Peters goes but I suppose it could be another pitcher.
So those are my official guesses: Raley, Uceta, Peters…………………..unless CT3 will be out for awhile in which case anything is possible.
Any guesses on who gets the flights to OKC?
And if you’re reading this TMax, Busch homered again tonight. He has 5 now and you just might get your wish. If he continues like this they may just give him a shot much sooner than I figured.
Uceta, Raley, and Peters will be gone by Monday afternoon replaced by Price, Tsutsugo and Pujols. But the big mystery is what number is Al going to get….#5 belongs to Seager.
How about #55. I’m sure Orel won’t mind. Others have worn it since it was his.
He is already on the roster and listed as # 55. Tsutsugo not on roster yet. They have 27 guys on the 26 man right now if my math is correct. Price still to be activated,
Heads up folks. We just signed Albert Pujols.
I guess he’ll make a better righty pinch hitter that Peters.
Low bar there Jefe. He’s a threat as long as he’s still up there. Once you get him out, which this year is about 75% of the time, he’s not so threatening.
Dylan Hernandez of the Times has an article up already, comparing the signing with the Utley signing. He seems to think that half the reason was just to be a great clubhouse influence.
We shall see. Certainly no great $ risk involved here and he might just have one last push left in him. If not, AF can always cut him adrift if he needs a roster space. It would sure be a great story if it actually worked out and he was able to contribute.
Too bad Joc missed out on this. They have a great relationship.
I’d rather see someone in our system that is capable of accomplishing the same thing he can.
A clubhouse influence? We are World Champions. We need a clubhouse presence? What we need is a hungry hitter. Frankly I’d rather see Peters get those at bats.
.198 so 82% of the time..
His OBP is .250.