Dodgers: The Lefty Mashers Must Get to Robbie Ray

The Dodgers will face a team they will need no introductions to as they face their division rival and last year’s NLDS opponent the Arizona Diamondbacks starting today.

The Dodgers will continue their trek to a playoff berth today and standing in the way is last year’s main foe the Arizona Diamondbacks and Robbie Ray.  Robbie Ray has been on a hot streak for the Diamondbacks despite the rest of the team mired in a month long struggle.  In his past last six starts, Robbie Ray has gone 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA.

In his last start, Ray pitched six shutout innings against another NL contender, the Chicago Cubs.  In addition to his excellent ERA as of late, Ray is only allowing opposing batters to hit .143 against him in his previous six outings.  As a team, the current Dodgers have a .255 batting average against Ray with a .812 OPS.

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Due to his injuries this season, Robbie Ray has only made one start against the Dodgers this season which came on August 30th, and Ray pitched five plus innings allowing just one run with nine strikeouts.  The Dodgers will be looking for better results tonight as they try to distance themselves from the Rockies in the final week of the regular season.

The Dodgers will look for their “lefty mashers” to lead the offense against Ray which are Chris Taylor, Kikè Hernandez, and Matt Kemp.  Chris Taylor has not homered off of Ray in the regular season but he does have a .389 average and .921 OPS against Ray in eighteen at-bats.  Matt Kemp and Kikè Hernandez have combined for five home runs against Ray and both have an OPS over 1.000.

Surprisingly, Justin Turner has been one of the Dodgers’ worst hitters against Ray hitting just .192 with no home runs making him the worst right-handed hitter in the Dodger lineup against Ray.  Manny Machado also has a home run against Ray despite only seeing Ray for four at-bats.  Likewise, Brian Dozier has touched Ray up for a home run and is 3-8 against Ray lifetime.

The Dodgers will see some good starting pitchers in Arizona and the toughest one for them to beat is going to be Robbie Ray.  The Dodgers seem to hit lefties worse lately despite having a good win-loss record against them lately and Robbie Ray will put that to the test.  If the Dodgers are going to win the NL West, they should expect three tough games in the desert.