Rather unsurprisingly as of late, the Dodgers (24-18) dropped the second game of this four game series against the Giants (18-24) last night by a score of 6-2, with the offensive struggles continuing. This time the ace on the mound was Adrian Houser, who had a shiny 6.19 ERA entering the game last night before allowing just two earned runs across 5.2 innings and eventually earning his first win. The Dodgers now have a 1-4 record against the Giants thus far, in addition to being the owners of two separate four-game losing streaks within the last two weeks. The team has now gone 9-14 after a 15-4 start to the year, and the offense has been mostly unwatchable for the majority of this recent skid. Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound making his seventh start of the season up against the left-handed Robbie Ray who has always given the Dodgers trouble.
7:10 P.M.
Los Angeles
RF
Lee (L)
SS
Betts
2B
Arraez (L)
C
Smith
LF
Ramos
1B
Freeman (L)
1B
Devers (L)
CF
Pages
DH
Eldridge (L)
RF
Tucker (L)
SS
Adames
DH
T. Hernández
3B
Chapman
2B
Rojas
CF
Gilbert (L)
LF
Call
C
Rodriguez
3B
Espinal
P
Ray (L)
P
Ohtani (R)
The offense has been lifeless ever since leaving Colorado on April 20, prior to their first meeting with the Giants in San Francisco. The team was 16-6 at that point and had far and away the top offense in the sport, with a 144 wRC+ and .873 OPS through 22 games. The same team has been one of the worst offense in the sport since then, with an 89 wRC+ and a .657 OPS, the fourth lowest mark in baseball. They’ve hit just 13 home runs in the last 20 games, clearing only the Brewers (8) in that department. The Yankees for example, have 34 homers over that same stretch.
The offense has scored 75 runs in those 20 games, but 24 of those runs came in two separate 12 run performances. Removing those two outliers, it feels more representative of how they’ve consistently performed, putting up just 51 runs in 18 games (2.83 runs/game). It’s just been a putrid display for the last 20 games which is nearly half the season at this point.
The only guys who have done anything at the plate over the past 20 games are Max Muncy (129 wRC+, .802 OPS), Kyle Tucker (124 wRC+, .778 OPS), and Andy Pages (118 wRC+, .783 OPS). Everyone else has been below-average by wRC+ since then aside from Alex Freeland (114 wRC+, .732 OPS) who was demoted and sent down to OKC. Hyeseong Kim started out hot in Mookie’s absence, with a .357/.429/.476 slash through his first 17 games, but has cratered hard since then. His OPS (.696) just fell below .700 for the first time this season amidst a 7-for-40 stretch over the last two weeks, where he’s slashed .175/.214/.250.
Ohtani had a good game at the plate last night going 2-for-4 including his first homer since April 26, just his seventh of the year, but Dave Roberts will stick to his plan and give Ohtani (the batter) two days of rest. The first of those “rest” days comes today during his seventh start of the year on the mound, so tomorrow he’ll have his first true game off of the season. Mookie Betts will be in the leadoff spot tonight, looking to get back into form as he returns from his oblique injury. Alex Call will get the start in left field over Teoscar Hernández, who will be the designated hitter while Ohtani is out of the lineup against the left-handed Ray.
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Here’s how Ohtani and Ray have fared this season.
Ray has made 25 starts against the Dodgers in his career since 2015, and has a 3.74 ERA across 144.1 innings, with 189 strikeouts and a 1.22 WHIP. Very respectable numbers over a large sample size against one of the most consistently great offenses of the last decade. He made three starts against the Dodgers last year and finally looked mortal, giving up twelve earned runs across 14.2 innings. He’s been pretty sharp this year, with three quality starts in his last four outings, generating whiffs and strikeouts and allowing the occasional homer as per usual. With his propensity to give up the long ball, San Francisco is an ideal home park for him, and he has been excellent at home to start the year, with a 1.91 ERA in five home starts, compared to a 4.15 ERA on the road.
He’s always been a relatively simple pitcher, with his fastball and slider combo making up nearly 80% of his arsenal as a whole. He simplifies it even further against lefties, throwing either four-seamer or slider 95% of the time. Against right-handed batters he does mix in a changeup and a curveball, as he’s always looked to minimize platoon splits against him. Lefties have always struggled against Ray, so the right-handed bats in the lineup will need to do their part tonight.
Ohtani gave up two earned runs his last time out against the Houston Astros, both coming via solo home runs. He still cruised for the majority of the game despite those two mistakes, going seven innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. He’s now 6-for-6 in quality starts, the only remaining pitcher to be perfect in that department. He’s been one of the most dominant arms in the game every time he takes the mound, but the offense has been beyond lackluster when he starts. They’re averaging just two runs per game while he’s on the mound, better than only Tanner Bibee (1.3) and Tyler Mahle (1.9). Despite being 6-for-6 in quality starts and having an ERA below 1, the team is just 2-4 in his starts. It’s too early to discuss what a Cy Young caliber season would look like for him, but due to the innings deficit he will inevitably be at, logging a significant amount of wins would help his case. He does his job on the mound, but the offense has to back him up, especially when he’s out of the lineup as well.
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In other news,
Jason Heyward is a well-liked and respected vet that was fans loved in his short time here. No surprise to see the Dodgers target someone like Heyward to re-join the organization.
Good to see that River Ryan is healthy and that the hamstring issue was relatively minor. He’ll inevitably be needed at some point this year.
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First pitch is at 7:10 PT on SNLA.
