Game of the Week: April 1: LAD @ COL

[Commissioner Erick]

Los Angeles Dodgers (0-0) @ Colorado Rockies (0-0)


LAD: Joey Wentz (0-0, 0.00)
COL: Michael Fulmer (0-0, 0.00)


Dodgers 5 Key Stats:

7: The number of seasons the last eight years Nomar Mazara produced over 4.1 WAR. The Dodgers will need a way to replace his production.

144: A career high in games played last season for oft-injured Luis Robert. The Cuban superstar will need to remain in the lineup this season for the Dodgers to produce.

.304: Alex Bregman's career batting average, fourth all time. The Rockies will need to find a way to get him out to slow down the high-powered Dodgers offense.

.849: Amin Valdez' OPS last season, second highest among NL Shortstops. A catalyst at the top of the order, with Bregman and Robert hitting behind him, a strong day from Valdez could spell doom for the Rockies.

104: OSA's Predicted win total for the Dodgers this season. Despite stiff competition from San Francisco the past two years, and an improved Rockies team, the Dodgers are expected to win the NL West this year by 24 games.


Rockies 5 Key Stats:

48-33: Colorado's Home Record last season. Colorado was one of the best teams in the league at home last year and will look to carry that over into 2026.

23-15: Colorado's record against Los Angeles the last two seasons. After a half decade of futility, Colorado has had the Dodgers' number the past couple of seasons.

5.32: Michael Fulmer's ERA two seasons ago, the only season Fulmer has ever had an ERA over 4.15. If Colorado gets 2024 Michael Fulmer, they have no chance this season. If they get any other version of Michael Fulmer, they have a strong chance of holding down the Dodgers' offense and playing meaningful baseball in September.

.540: Ralph Porter's OPS against left-handed pitching in 2025. He'll get the start in Right Field today but will need to improve on that mark if Colorado wants to produce against lefty Joey Wentz.

1125: The number of career Nolan Arenado RBIs, most in PBA history. Wentz will need to avoid serving long balls to him, and will need to focus on retiring David Dahl and Luis Picon at the top of the order to limit Arenado's ability to do damage.


Questions for the GMs:


For Ben Vincent, your ballpark is more homer-prone than most, but your starting rotation has only Steven Matz with a movement rating above 7 and you brought in Nick Burdi, who allowed 2.2 HR/9 last season. It's a delicate balance that worked last year. Share your thoughts on how you made this work.

Jorge Ramos looks ready and offers much better defense in LF than new signing Luis Robert, whose injury history might make him an ideal DH candidate if not for Seiya Suzuki. What are your plans and who's at risk of getting crowded out?

Which Burdi is the better Burdi?

For Erick Blasco, Michael Fulmer was outstanding last year. What's your expectation for regression in 2026?

Keith Nield doesn't have a straight pitch in his arsenal, but was a longball machine last year. He struck out the world despite an increased workload, which would seem to make him an ideal bullpen candidate (if not for the homers). Are you committed to keeping him in the rotation to see if he matures in that role?

Is this the last chapter of the Trevor Story story? He's the yang to Juan Marrufo's incredible strong-side-platoon yin and provides you with some flexibility, but if Marrufo gets going, might he suddenly become a trading chip?

Phenom Ralph Porter is still batting 7th or 8th. He's a team guy, but stars often like to bat higher in the order. If he starts asking for the heart of the lineup, are you ready to oblige?


TRIVIA: Alex Bregman had the second most Doubles by an NL Third Baseman in 2025. Who had the most?

[Ben_Dodgers]

Dodger Stadium plays pretty neutral, and except for Coors Field, the other parks in the west aren’t overly scary places for fly ball pitchers to pitch. The occasional home run is manageable if we can keep the bases free from traffic. We do this by avoiding free passes and putting out great defenders in the outfield. Jeren Kendall has won 3 straight gold gloves (5 overall) and has had a huge impact on run prevention. Today’s starter Joey Wentz turned his whole career around when he came out west last year, and we look for him to continue pitching well this year.

Ramos really made a leap this off-season and we’re excited to see what he can do, but he’s not ready to be an everyday player until he figures out left handed pitching. For now he’s out 4th outfielder, but I expect him to see a lot of playing time. Injuries are going to happen - we’ve had a few significant outfield injuries the past few years - and I feel better about our outfield depth with Ramos on the roster than I have the past 3 seasons. Your suggestion about playing him in left and Robert’s at DH has merit, especially against RHP, but Suzuki has done a lot of damage for us as DH the past two years and I’m not ready to pull him out of the lineup just yet.

I had Nick as my closer for a couple seasons in Miami and he threw pretty well. I think his best season was 2023 when he was traded mid season to the Nats. He’s maintained better strikeout and walk rates than Zack for their whole careers, and pitched in higher leverage situations, so I’m going to go with Nick.

Trivia: Machado

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, Michael Fulmer was outstanding last year. What's your expectation for regression in 2026?
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Our scouts say Fulmer's been the same pitcher he's been since he joined the Rockies so we don't really expect anything less than what he's been for us. He's always limited his walks and aside from 2024 has limited homers as well. He struck out over 200 hitters last year for the first time since leading the league in 2021 and 2022. Our defense isn't great and our park is huge, so he'll give up some elevated BABIP figures, but even with slight homerun regression, that's a pitcher who should have an ERA in the high 3's. That's great for our park and with our offense, will give us a chance to win every time out.

Keith Nield doesn't have a straight pitch in his arsenal, but was a longball machine last year. He struck out the world despite an increased workload, which would seem to make him an ideal bullpen candidate (if not for the homers). Are you committed to keeping him in the rotation to see if he matures in that role?

We'll see. We really like his stuff and after an offseason where he let him know that he'll be a starter for us, we expect him to settle down a little bit more and not be as wild and nervous as he was last year. He can work deep into games and the stuff can play up in the later innings. If it turns out that he's too inconsistent and wild in the strike zone though, or if hitters time him up multiple times through the order, we may need to make that change. We have a lot of options for our rotation this year, so we're comfortable after six weeks or so tinkering with our rotation if things aren't working. Nield's upside may be necessary for us to take the division though, so he'll get his first crack in the rotation.

Is this the last chapter of the Trevor Story story? He's the yang to Juan Marrufo's incredible strong-side-platoon yin and provides you with some flexibility, but if Marrufo gets going, might he suddenly become a trading chip

For better or worse, we've always been loyal to our guys so it's unlikely we'll trade Story. We tried to trade him once and nobody wanted him. Then he turned around and hit 51 homers for us. Our young sluggers have major platoon issues, and Story has hit under .200 against righties three of the past four seasons, so it makes sense for him to be a part of a platoon. We'll give him some at bats against righties here and there, but he'll mostly be our First Baseman against lefties, and hopefully, a pinch-hitting weapon off the bench. He's had a lot of success in his career and is one of just 15 PBA players to have 300 or more homers, but as he gets older, it's time for him to move into a smaller role.

Phenom Ralph Porter is still batting 7th or 8th. He's a team guy, but stars often like to bat higher in the order. If he starts asking for the heart of the lineup, are you ready to oblige?

Maybe. We're pretty locked in to Dahl, Marrufo, and Arenado in the heart of our order, and Rogelio Mendizibal slotting in fifth or sixth gives us some handedness balance. We don't have an issue slotting Porter ahead of Jake Bauers if his play warrants it, or even leadoff if Brandon Boissiere struggles. As a guy who is very patient, but also strikeout prone, we don't love slotting him behind Mendizibal as it leads to issues where players frequently get stranded at third. That's why we have the duo broken up by Jake Bauers.

Porter is also young and Arenado and Dahl are aging. It may be in a few seasons, Porter will naturally acquire a middle-order position in the lineup.

[Commissioner Erick]

Dodgers 9 - Rockies 5


WP: J. Wentz (1-0)
LP: M. Fulmer (0-1)

Fans brought energy and enthusiasm to the Colorado Rockies home opener. Michael Fulmer started for the home team against Joey Wentz for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies were unable to reward the home crowd with a win. The final score was 9-5, Los Angeles. Alec Sanchez, though, was impressive. Joey Wentz was the winning pitcher. Over 5.2 innings, he allowed 4 runs on 6 hits, with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts.

Willie Calhoun, the 31-year old first baseman , had a direct impact on the outcome. Calhoun contributed a 2-run home run in the top of the third inning to put Los Angeles up, 5-1.

"Our guys are never satisfied," said Los Angeles manager Ben Vincent.


Questions for the GMs:


For Ben Vincent, how good was it to see Wentz have a great game against a tough offense in a tough park?

Corey Taylor will be a new addition to your pen. How did he look out there?

What were your first impressions of Luis Robert?

For Erick Blasco, your team really looked out-classed. How disappointed are you?

How did you feel about your manager bot's pinch hitting?

How did Ralph Porter look to you against a lefty-heavy Dodgers' staff?


TRIVIA: The Dodgers hit six doubles in yesterday's game. Who has the most doubles for the Dodgers All-Time?

[Ben_Dodgers]

I was really pleased with Wentz's start. 10Ks is a great way to kick off the year. It looks like he's still carrying the momentum from the post season.

Taylor made me a little nervous allowing multiple baserunners, but fortunately we were able to contain the damage and overall I think he did well in his debut. As a rule V pick, he still has some room to grow and I'm going to restrict him to lower leverage situations for a while.

Robert impressed today. Busting out a triple on opening day tells me he's ready for a big season.

[Ben_Dodgers]

Oops, Wentz only had 8Ks

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, your team really looked out-classed. How disappointed are you?

A little disappointed that it wasn't close, but not too disappointed. Much of the loss can be traced back to an anomalously rough game from Michael Fulmer. Our offense produced reasonably well, and I liked how much our manager bot used our bench. The Dodgers are a tremendous team, and when our pitching isn't sharp, things can get out of hand.

How did you feel about your manager bot's pinch hitting?

While I didn't love the details, I did love the aggressiveness. In the long run I think the strategy will pay off. The first pinch hitter was Jasrado Chisholm for T.J. Lunsford in a 9-4 game with two on and two outs. My manager could have gone with Daniel Montano though, but went with Chisholm who was battling a flu. With our chances of coming back pretty slim, I either would have liked to see Juan Marrufo to try to club a three-run homer or Daniel Montano who can naturally replace Lunsford, and who was healthy. I didn't want to have Chisholm exert himself with his illness, and felt bringing in Chisholm was the worst of all worlds. Then after he flew out, Chisholm stayed in the game at Shortstop moving Luis Picon to Right Field. Chisholm didn't need to play more and should have stayed in the dugout to rest.

The next inning, with the Rockies down 9-4, one out and one on, my manager bot subbed out Luis Picon for Montano with Corey Taylor pitching. That was fine, going with Montano there. In the eighth, my manager bot subbed out Trevor Story for Jake Bauers, which is a move that should be made frequently in the late innings. If the strategy our manager bot used is repeated for other games, I'll be pleased.

How did Ralph Porter look to you against a lefty-heavy Dodgers' staff?

He did not look good. He struck out swinging against Wentz in the third and fifth inning, was gunned down at the plate in a five-run game in the seventh after drawing a leadoff walk, and he flew out deep to center in the ninth. He did well against Dodger righties, which is something I know he can do well, but his meek at bats against Wentz caution me against using him against other lefties. I may need to at times because of his defense, but he won't be an everyday player if he struggles this badly.

[Commissioner Erick]

Trivia 1: Matt correctly guessed Machado

Trivia 2: Ben correctly guessed Alex Verdugo