Dodgers Diamondbacks Game Two Preview

The Dodgers look to right the ship in game two in Arizona.

Yesterday’s game was all sorta of bad. Offense showed up late, pitching didn’t really show up and the Dodgers lost 7-3. The Giants won to push the NL lead down to four games, with a three game set in LA starting Monday.

The Dodgers played like a team that flew across the country the day before. Hopefully, that’s all out of their system in game two.

Dodgers Starter

Kenta Maeda will make his 29th start of the season for the Dodgers. Ironic, as the only reason he signed such an incentive-heavy contract was his injury issues. He’s been the Dodgers’ most durable starter, and he’s arguably been the best rookie pitcher in baseball.

Maeda’s 3.28 ERA/3.54 FIP is a bit better than expected. He’s taken to the American game well, and he’s been nothing but a very consistent rotation piece.

If there’s one thing to be worried about, Maeda has only made 10 starts this season on four days rest, which is the norm in the US. In Japan, pitchers tend to have five days between starts. Many Japanese pitchers struggle (health or performance-wise) to adjust to this. Maeda has had the luxury of extra off days, but that won’t be the case today.

Maeda is coming off consecutive starts of more than six innings. The first came against these Diamondbacks, and Maeda allowed one run in 6.1 innings. The second came five days ago, and Maeda got the loss despite allowing only two runs in six innings.

Diamondbacks Starter

Zack Greinke gets the ball for Arizona. Greinke’s nightmare season hit a low two starts ago at Dodger Stadium. You probably remember the schadenfrude of watching Greinke allow eight runs and five homers in 4.2 innings.

Greinke’s last start was much better, as he held the Giants to three runs in six innings. He still possesses the talent to shut down anyone, but his 4.54 ERA/4.09 WHIP points to him being average at best this year.

Normally, a slumping offense going up against Greinke would be bad news. However, this seems like it could (hopefully) be a game to get the Dodgers bats woken up.

Dodgers Lineup

The lineup is back to normal with Howie Kendrick in left field. Andre Ethier played in left yesterday, but Kendrick should be (and probably is) the everyday guy there.

Corey Seager has killed Greinke this season. In seven plate appearances, Seager has a walk, two homers, two singles and a double against Greinke. It’s obviously a tiny sample size, but Greinke was a fan of Seager as a prospect, and Seager is showing why.

Next: Choosing the Playoff Rotation

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PST and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.