Dodgers Braves Game Three Preview

Good morning. Dodgers play early. That’s weird.

Nothing says baseball like a 9:10 AM PST Thursday afternoon game.

The Dodgers evened their series in Atlanta last night in extra innings. The bullpen was good (when they weren’t trying to take each other out, as it was reported postgame that Pedro Baez was unavailable after being hit in the back of the head by a ball thrown by Adam Liberatore). The bullpen kept the Dodgers in the game, the the Dodgers took their first lead of the series in the 10th.

Today, the Dodgers send Clayton Kershaw to the hill. That’s usually a good step one for a win. The Dodgers have won each of his first three starts this season, and he’s gone seven twice and eight once. The Dodgers could use a long outing today, as the aforementioned Baez and Louis Coleman were the only relievers not used in last night’s extra inning game.

This is only Kershaw’s second career regular season start at Turner Field, and the other came in 2011. He’s started six games against the Braves in his career, but only has two decisions (both wins). He’s allowed nine earned runs in 45 1/3 innings against them and has struck out 54 batters while only walking 10.

Matt Wisler gets the start for the Braves. The former Padres pitching prospect was the headliner going back to Atlanta in the Craig Kimbrel deal, and showed some promise in 19 starts last season. He faced the Dodgers in July at Turner Field and got the win, but allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.

With Kershaw on the hill, A.J. Ellis is back in the lineup for the first time since Kershaw’s last start. Ellis is essentially Kershaw’s personal catcher, and that hurts the Dodgers on offense (because Yasmani Grandal rakes) and probably hurts Kershaw a bit (he loses an excellent pitch framer). It makes sense to make sure Kershaw is as comfortable as humanly possible when he pitches, and if you’re going to weaken the offense, it makes sense to do it when you probably won’t need as much run support to win. It would still be fun to see the numbers Kershaw would put up with Grandal behind the plate.

Other than that, Joc Pederson moves up to the cleanup spot. He’s been swinging the bat pretty well, and with Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner both out of the lineup, moving him up makes sense. Charlie Culberson gets the start at third and Trayce Thompson in right.

Next: Dodgers Win 5-3 In 10

A move has been made in the bullpen, as Luis Avilan is reportedly with the team. The corresponding move is currently unknown, but Baez is either being placed on the concussion list or Coleman is being placed on the bereavement list.

First pitch is scheduled for 9:10 PST and will be shown on Sportsnet LA