The Dodgers will try and put the frustrating Arizona Series behind them as they fly into the Nation’s capital to take on the Washington Nationals for a three game series. The boys in blue are no doubt frustrated and tired after losing two of three to the crappy Dbacks, so they’ll try to regroup in Washington. The good news is the Giants were just as bad dropping 3 straight to the lowly Padres. So that means the Dodgers didn’t lose any ground in the NL West.
They did sweep the Nationals at Dodger Stadium earlier this season. Perhaps they can use some of that mojo from the previous series to gain an edge? Fortunately for the Dodgers they’ll miss Max Scherzer. Unfortunately for the Dodgers they’ll not miss Stephen Strasburg. You can’t win them all I guess.
Dodgers Lineup @ Washington
Tonight’s Dodger lineup at Nationals:
Utley 2B
Kendrick LF
Turner 3B
González 1B
Grandal C
Pederson CF
Puig RF
Taylor SS
Kazmir P— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 19, 2016
Scott Kazmir-7-3 vs. Reynaldo Lopez-0-0
Game Time – 4:05 PM – TV-SNLA
The Dodgers will give the ball to left hander Scott Kazmir, (7-3 4.52) who will be making his 19th start of the season. He got pulverized in his last start back on July 8th at San Diego, and honestly I have little confidence he won’t get pounded by Washington. Then again, he allowed just two earned runs on 8 hits over 6 innings back on June 21st against the Nats. Somehow Kazmir has to get over that dreaded first inning.
The veteran has an 8.50 ERA in the first inning this season. Overall the numbers actually don’t look that bad for Kazmir. You see he’s struck out 106, walked 39, and allowed 8.3 hits per nine innings over 97 frames. Kazmir is 1-0 with a 4.02 ERA in 3 career starts against Washington. Don’t let Kazmir pitch to former Dodger Jayson Werth(less). The hobo look-alike is 7 for 10 with a home run and 3 extra-base hits against Kazmir.
Kazmir vs. Nationals
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Jayson Werth | 14 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | .700 | .786 | 1.200 | 1.986 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Murphy | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .286 | .375 | .286 | .661 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Rendon | 8 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .250 | .500 | .750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Revere | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .286 | .286 | .286 | .571 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Espinosa | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .400 | .400 | 1.000 | 1.400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen Drew | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryce Harper | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | 1.333 | 1.667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oliver Perez | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilson Ramos | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tanner Roark | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jose Lobaton | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 59 | 54 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 11 | .333 | .390 | .593 | .982 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The Nationals will give the ball to Dominican rookie Reynaldo Lopez. Sammy Solis has been placed on the disabled list and Washington will let the 22-year old right hander make his first MLB start. I don’t know much about Lopes other than he was pitching for the National’s triple-A affiliate Syracuse Chiefs of the international league this season.
He’s been in the Nationals organization since 2012 and has posted a 3.15 ERA and struck out 9.0 batters per nine innings over 5 minor league seasons. He’s struck out 109 across 87.1 innings pitched this year and I’m sure since this is his MLB debut he’ll pitch a shutout.
Lopez is highly rated, (#92 by Baseball America) and supposedly he can touch about 100 MPH on his heater. Will the Dodger bats be able to hit this young flame thrower?
The Nationals have a 56-37 record and a 5.5 game lead in the National League East. They are 29-16 at home while the Dodgers have a pathetic 22-24 record on the road. The Dodgers are 52-42 and trying to stay ahead in the NL Wild Card race because they are simply not good enough this year to catch the Giants.
Good news is Joc Pederson is scheduled to be activated today from the disabled list. The obvious move to clear roster space is to designate or option minor leaguer Zach Walters. I am almost 1000% positive that will happen while I am at work today. It’s gotta happen otherwise manager Dave Roberts won’t be able to resist the sick urge to start him against a left hander. Welcome back Joc!
Dodgers better start winning again. It would greatly improve my disposition. When the Dodgers lose I become an unpleasant person to be around.
Go Blue!
Ryu shut down with elbow pain – same with Fien.
Avilan recalled; Pederson activated.
Avilan recalled? When are they going to give Grant Dayton a chance??
Grant Dayton at Tulsa and OKC this year:
IP: 48 H-28 HR-2 BB-10(1-UI) K-85 Saves-4
what else does he have to do for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahhh. Today is Avilan’s birthday(27yo). That’s the ONLY reason he was brought up instead of Dayton.
Kazmir has an 8.5 era in the first inning but overall his numbers don’t look that bad. That is a great line 🙂
Kudos to you Scott!
Scary stat there Scott!
But his ERA is great after the fifth inning!
LOL….he’s lights out from the 7th inning on.
Make him the set-up man.
Kazmir’s ERA is 0.00 in innings where he gets everyone out!
Roberts is resting Cory tonight.
Why does he rest one of our best bats, against a team like the Nationals?
It would have been better to rest Cory in the last game against the Dbacks.
Kid must be worn out trying to carry the team on his back.
What do you expect from a guy with a wooden head?
Didn’t Corey rest yesterday? Didn’t he have some time off, oh July 13th & 14th. Let’s see that would mean that over the past 7 days (counting today) he will have played 3 baseball games. Yep, he’s tired.
Or, he has a hurt or has flu symptoms that needs some healing time. Geeze guys and gals.
What’s ironic is that even on days where he is given a rest (doesn’t start, of which tonight will be the 8th time), he still plays so it’s really not much of a rest. He has played in all but 1 game, in fact he is tied for most games played this year in the NL.
Chili
As you know, that could be just a few pinch hit at bats.
My real point is why rest Cory aganist a good team.
I am not saying that Cory shouldn’t be rested.
Especially since Roberts could have rested Cory in one of the two games, against the Dbacks, when the Dodgers faced a leftie pitcher.
And really the Dodgers have a lot of days off, in the next two weeks of there schedule,
Yes, but in only one of those games did he pinch hit and not take the field. He has played in 93 games and has played in the field 92 times. Unless the game is a blowout I expect him to enter the game at some point. It must be a Moneyball thing. FAZ’s computer must equate sitting out 7 innings of a game to being equal to not playing at all. Go figure.
Chili
Where did you get stats like that?
Maybe there is a reason why Seager needs 2 days off after playing 3 games after an All Star break.
Wait….. Law omitted De Leon? Why would he do that?
He is an Ignorant Savage!
Wow Mark…..so tell us how you really feel about him. You dont like it when the minor league grades start dropping…..can blame it on one player.
So word is that DeLeon or Steward will take Ryu’s upcoming start tomorrow or Thurs
Oops, brain trust brought back Ryu too soon. But still, the Dodgers are very close to having to choose a rotation out of Kershaw, McCarthy, Maeda, Noris, Kazmir, Anderson, Wood, Ryu, plus De Leon, Stewart, and even Urias.
Can De Leon pitch more then five innings?
He can make 100 pitches 🙂
They’ll need them all and then some.
Kershaw. Rest. Return unknown.
Shut. Him. Down.
The question is, is Fien really hurt, or are they trying to make him better, like they did with Hatcher last year?
He had been pitching like he was hurt.
He was hurting the team. Who knows?
Urias to start Thursday!
Is that your guess or has it been announced?
Announced that Urias is to start Thursday, Kershaw shut down due to soreness after 60 pitch simulated game.
To say that Clayton Kershaw is Special is obvious. If there is any question, maybe he should be shut down and have the surgery now. If I were FAZ, I would hand him the checkbook and tell him to write in all the ZERO’s he needs and that he needs to finish his career as a Dodger.
Get the surgery NOW.
Sell NOW!
SVS
PUIG
KENDRICK
TURNER (you can always sign him back and it won’t cost a pick)
GONZO (OK, no one would take him)
UTLEY
KAZMIR
MAEDA
WOOD
NORRIS
JANSEN
Trade them all for Prospects and I would be in high cotton!
Call up the kids and let’s get it on!
It is amazing that you would be the first to throw in the towel. No Mas, No Mas.
Duran
FAZ isn’t that smart. I agree with what you’ve proposed with Kershaw and the dumping but even you are smarter than FAZ. See, a compliment.
I hope that he doesn’t need surgery. Most people with herniated discs don’t. He may need a few months to heal which would blow the season up for this year but would allow him to pitch without surgery next year.
Most people do not continuosly torque their backs like him either. He should have the surgery while still being young to where he would have a high probability of returning to original form.
It doesn’t work that way. The younger you are when you have a back surgery, the more likely it is that you will need another surgery some day.
Cory is sick.
Aren’t we all sick?
ONLY between the ears
Not me.
The Kershaw news that stunned me was when we first heard of this. A herniated disc is serious business for anyone, but especially so on a professional athlete. That’s why I said then – shut him down. The rest of this I don’t find that surprising. FAZ has dealt in used parts since they took over. How can anyone be surprised? Injury prone players are injured and waiver cast offs aren’t all that great at the Major League level. I’ve been saying this ain’t our year for months. Still saying it.
You know the AA thing, “I am an alcoholic. I haven’t had a drink in 20 years but I am still an alcoholic”? That’s the way it is with back injuries (and most injuries, truth be told). They seem to be healed and may seem that way for a long time, but eventually they will rear their ugly head again…
Angels lost another pitcher. Would they send us Houston Street for one of our discards and a farmhand? Would we want him?
I just think Kershaw got that injection, and it covered his pain, and Kershaw probably did to much.
Kershaw has probably already had a scan of his back.
I am not going to make a judgement on how bad Kershaw is, until I hear what a doctor says.
I do think Kershaw will be much more careful this time around, and not try to rush back.
I can understand why he probably did to much.
He wants to be there for the team, and Kershaw was having one of his best seasons ever, and that is amazing.
Because Kershaw has had some amazing seasons already.
If they would pick the Cy Young right now, Kershaw would get it very easily, and uncontested.
Bum
That was a really good two out hit by Joc!
I love the dialogue I just read. Godspeed to all.
Kaz with a great 4 so far. please keep it going!
Meanwhile, on my laptop, Big Papi just hit a 3 run shot. 4-0 Bos over sf as well
Bobby
Hatcher never gets ahead of a count.
And the few times he does he loses the hitter.
Can we just leave him in DC?
No, he’s FAZ’s boyfriend.
well the giants lost. so unless we totally collapse in the 9th we’ll be 4.5 out
Meanwhile, everybody’s favorite minor leaguer, Willie Calhoun, has 2 hr tonight for Tulsa
Hatcher is like that guy on the Peanuts comic strip, that has a bunch of dirt, that follows him where ever he goes.
Nothing ever happens good, when Hatcher comes into pitch.
MJ: How can you say that? If it wasn’t for Hatcher, Kenley wouldn’t have gotten the save.
Richie
I just hope we can use Kenley to save three straight games if we need him.
I think the Dodgers have a day off after this series.
Pig Pen
They re better off using long men the entire game. Use Chavez, Fields, or anyone is better than this bum