Post by Commissioner Erick on Aug 20, 2020 12:02:16 GMT -5
Atlanta Braves (19-16) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (21-15)
ATL: Zach Davies (1-1, 1.93)
LAD: Eduardo Rodriguez (4-1, 4.24)
The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves have had similar seasons to date. Each club got off to a slow start. Each club is on fire the past ten days or so. Finally, each club has been much better at home than on the road.
That last fact is good news for the homestanding Dodgers when they host the Braves for this Monday's Game of the Week.
Los Angeles enters the contest as winners of nine of their prior 10 games, including a three-game sweep of the Giants in San Francisco that places the Dodgers right back in a National League West race that could have started to get away from them. They're playing great baseball after dealing with significant early-season adversity.
The Dodgers were hit with injuries early in the year that had the club reeling. Jeren Kendall went down in Spring Training and robbed the club of a potent offensive player and their defensive lynchpin. Julio Urias tore his labrum for the second time in his career, and the doctors assure that the damage is irreparable and Urias' career is over. J.B. Bukauskas and Tim Schroeder have stepped in to keep the rotation in order in Urias' absence, holding down the fort so the league's third best bullpen in ERA could finish offenses off. The offensive resurgence has been more encouraging.
After Tetsuo Yamada signed a significant contract and disappointed mightily in his time with the Dodgers, Los Angeles fans had to be concerned after the team inked another Japanese import, Seiya Suzuki, to a long contract. After Suzuki's first 16 games, he was hitting just .236 with one double, and looking like another Japanese bust for the Dodgers. On May 14, he had three hits including a home run in an 8-2 win over Milwaukee, with the home run kicking off a three-game home run streak for the designated hitter. Suzuki has gone on a tear since rediscovering his stroke and is now hitting over .300 with eight home runs, including his first PBA multi-homer day on Sunday in the Dodgers 12-1 win over the Padres. With the four-time Japanese MVP looking like a potential PBA MVP, the Dodgers have taken an offense that finished 11th in runs last year, to a unit that leads the National League in the early going.
Fortunately for the Braves, they'll have, by WAR, last year's best pitcher in the league to bottle up the Dodger offense. Davies continues to be a master of guile and command. He uses five pitches to befuddle righties, and an excellent changeup to manipulate lefties, keeping hitters off balance with timing and control. He doesn't walk hitters nor does he give up home runs, a paradox for a pitcher without great stuff. With a great defense behind him, that leads to a lot of scoreless innings. He doesn't qualify for the leaderboards with Atlanta using a six-man staff, but his 0.89 WHIP and 1.93 ERA would each rank fourth in the league in the early going.
Atlanta will have to try and score against former Brave, Eduardo Rodriguez. The Venezuelan lefty led the league in WHIP and BB/9 last season on the way to a 16-win season. The two-time All Star has been a touch homer-prone this year, but didn't allow a long ball in his last start, a 14-6 Dodgers win in San Francisco. With a low walk rate and perhaps Jeren Kendall back in Center Field, it'll be tough for Atlanta to generate the offense needed to beat him.
The one thing Atlanta will have is a pair of right handed newcomers in Bryan Martelo and Wilmer Flores to boost their offense. The duo each has six home runs in the early going, with Flores batting .306 with 21 RBIs. Flores has long been one of the more underrated First Basemen in the league, but has always produced after becoming a starter in 2019. The bit player was a World Series MVP back in 2017, and Martelo wears a ring earned from last year's title with the Twins, giving Atlanta great leadership in their lineup.
With Atlanta only 4-8 against left-handed starters so far, they'll need that leadership if they want to knock off the Dodgers.
Questions for the GMs:
For Aaron Dunham, Marc Eberle has been brutal as a pitcher with a 10.52 ERA and he's batting just .211/.274/.386 at the plate. Does he need to concentrate on just one element of hitting or pitching right now, or do you believe in time he'll play his way out of both slumps?
Your club has struggled to win games started by lefties despite having a majority right-handed lineup. What's been the cause of that?
Who do you think is the key player to watch out for in the Dodgers lineup?
For Ben Vincent, will we see Kendall today or will you continue to keep him rehabbing in the minors?
Amin Valdez already has seven doubles and five home runs. How big has it been for your offense to get some production from the bottom of your lineup, something that rarely happened last year?
How relieved are you that Suzuki is playing great baseball after his early season struggles?
TRIVIA: Julio Urias is second on the all-time Dodgers strikeout leaderboard with 943, trailing only Clayton Kershaw's 955. Who is third?
ATL: Zach Davies (1-1, 1.93)
LAD: Eduardo Rodriguez (4-1, 4.24)
The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves have had similar seasons to date. Each club got off to a slow start. Each club is on fire the past ten days or so. Finally, each club has been much better at home than on the road.
That last fact is good news for the homestanding Dodgers when they host the Braves for this Monday's Game of the Week.
Los Angeles enters the contest as winners of nine of their prior 10 games, including a three-game sweep of the Giants in San Francisco that places the Dodgers right back in a National League West race that could have started to get away from them. They're playing great baseball after dealing with significant early-season adversity.
The Dodgers were hit with injuries early in the year that had the club reeling. Jeren Kendall went down in Spring Training and robbed the club of a potent offensive player and their defensive lynchpin. Julio Urias tore his labrum for the second time in his career, and the doctors assure that the damage is irreparable and Urias' career is over. J.B. Bukauskas and Tim Schroeder have stepped in to keep the rotation in order in Urias' absence, holding down the fort so the league's third best bullpen in ERA could finish offenses off. The offensive resurgence has been more encouraging.
After Tetsuo Yamada signed a significant contract and disappointed mightily in his time with the Dodgers, Los Angeles fans had to be concerned after the team inked another Japanese import, Seiya Suzuki, to a long contract. After Suzuki's first 16 games, he was hitting just .236 with one double, and looking like another Japanese bust for the Dodgers. On May 14, he had three hits including a home run in an 8-2 win over Milwaukee, with the home run kicking off a three-game home run streak for the designated hitter. Suzuki has gone on a tear since rediscovering his stroke and is now hitting over .300 with eight home runs, including his first PBA multi-homer day on Sunday in the Dodgers 12-1 win over the Padres. With the four-time Japanese MVP looking like a potential PBA MVP, the Dodgers have taken an offense that finished 11th in runs last year, to a unit that leads the National League in the early going.
Fortunately for the Braves, they'll have, by WAR, last year's best pitcher in the league to bottle up the Dodger offense. Davies continues to be a master of guile and command. He uses five pitches to befuddle righties, and an excellent changeup to manipulate lefties, keeping hitters off balance with timing and control. He doesn't walk hitters nor does he give up home runs, a paradox for a pitcher without great stuff. With a great defense behind him, that leads to a lot of scoreless innings. He doesn't qualify for the leaderboards with Atlanta using a six-man staff, but his 0.89 WHIP and 1.93 ERA would each rank fourth in the league in the early going.
Atlanta will have to try and score against former Brave, Eduardo Rodriguez. The Venezuelan lefty led the league in WHIP and BB/9 last season on the way to a 16-win season. The two-time All Star has been a touch homer-prone this year, but didn't allow a long ball in his last start, a 14-6 Dodgers win in San Francisco. With a low walk rate and perhaps Jeren Kendall back in Center Field, it'll be tough for Atlanta to generate the offense needed to beat him.
The one thing Atlanta will have is a pair of right handed newcomers in Bryan Martelo and Wilmer Flores to boost their offense. The duo each has six home runs in the early going, with Flores batting .306 with 21 RBIs. Flores has long been one of the more underrated First Basemen in the league, but has always produced after becoming a starter in 2019. The bit player was a World Series MVP back in 2017, and Martelo wears a ring earned from last year's title with the Twins, giving Atlanta great leadership in their lineup.
With Atlanta only 4-8 against left-handed starters so far, they'll need that leadership if they want to knock off the Dodgers.
Questions for the GMs:
For Aaron Dunham, Marc Eberle has been brutal as a pitcher with a 10.52 ERA and he's batting just .211/.274/.386 at the plate. Does he need to concentrate on just one element of hitting or pitching right now, or do you believe in time he'll play his way out of both slumps?
Your club has struggled to win games started by lefties despite having a majority right-handed lineup. What's been the cause of that?
Who do you think is the key player to watch out for in the Dodgers lineup?
For Ben Vincent, will we see Kendall today or will you continue to keep him rehabbing in the minors?
Amin Valdez already has seven doubles and five home runs. How big has it been for your offense to get some production from the bottom of your lineup, something that rarely happened last year?
How relieved are you that Suzuki is playing great baseball after his early season struggles?
TRIVIA: Julio Urias is second on the all-time Dodgers strikeout leaderboard with 943, trailing only Clayton Kershaw's 955. Who is third?
