Dodgers got swept by city rival Angels.
Are you devastated?
It all looked so bright last Friday, when the Diamondbacks had easily won their first game against the Rockies, 8-0. People might have had a thought about my drama poll and the option that it would be devastating if we were to lose even just one game against the worst team in the MLB. I think that after Saturday’s dramatic loss, the first one in franchise history while scoring 12 runs, some people might not have been that truthful to their own mind and heart when they voted for the option “No, we will have many more good opportunities to get extra necessary wins”.
If that wasn’t enough, yesterday we were lucky we were able to rely on the mainstay just once again, who pitched another gem. Torey Lovullo took a terrific decision to let Merrill go out for the 7th inning. However, it is obvious that Torey does not have much confidence in his bullpen. Obvious as well: it was disappointing too that the offence could not scrap together more than just one lousy run. On the other hand, they more than did their part in the previous two games against the Rockies, so it isn’t a shame that the Diamondbacks (read: Kelly) had to go deep into their pitching.
So, if we are being fair to what we saw last weekend, I am of opinion (and mentioned this before in a roundtable) that this team will suck, suffer, dominate and excel against any team and, if I remember correctly, we pretty much had the same “problem” last season:
Against teams with currently a record > .500 (“good” teams):
- Split home series against the Cubs (2-2)
- Won away series against the Yankees (2-1)
- Won a home series against the Brewers (2-1)
- Lost an away series against the Cubs (1-2)
- Lost an away series against the Braves (1-2)
- Won an away series against the Mets (2-1)
- Lost an away series against the Phillies (1-2)
- Lost a home series against the Mets (1-2)
- Split a series with the Dodgers (2-2)
- Won an away series against the Giants (2-1)
Against teams with currently a record < .500 (“bad” teams):
- Lost an away series against the Nationals (1-2)
- Won a home series against the Orioles (2-1)
- Swept an away series against the Marlins (3-0)
- Lost a home series against the Rays (1-2)
- Won a home series against the Rockies (2-1)
Interesting is that except for a painful 7-0 loss in Milwaukee, the Diamondbacks were not once shut out by their opponent. Overall, we lost just as many series as we won a series against good and bad teams, with just one sole exception: we swept the Marlins. That is the reason why we sport a 25-22 record at the moment.
What about them Dodgers?
Obviously, the Dodgers are leading the NL West, but they are probably not as dominant as everyone thought they would be. They are not running away with the title (yet?) and after this weekend’s 3-0 loss against neighbour Los Angeles Angels, theoretically (according to baseball reference) they see themselves back in a wild card game (against the Phillies). That is probably what Dodgers’ fans want, considering they cried in the past over their team playing against teams in the playoffs that were able to warm up in the Wild Card playoffs, but it is probably not what they had envisioned at the beginning of the season. Padres and Giants are just one game behind the Dodgers in the NL West, the Diamondbacks are a bit further behind at 4.0.
By the way, as things stand by now, the Diamondbacks are out of the wild card, even behind the Cardinals and with the Braves right behind them.
Now, back to the Dodgers, what has happened on their roster since they played the Diamondbacks?
- The Dodgers DFAd catcher Austin Barnes after 11 seaons to make room for catching prospect Dalton Rushing.
- Dalton Rushing has started two games behind the plate, made a pinch hit appearance, and is off to a hot debut in the majors hitting .400/.455/.500.
- The Dodgers also DFAd AZSnakePit’s fan favourite Chris Taylor. Taylor had already been relegated to a bench role and was hitting .200/.200/.257 in 28 games this season. We will be happy with that, since Taylor is a .265/.346/.462 life time hitter against the Diamondbacks and despite a bad 2024 season, he still put up a .726 OPS against Arizona in 2024. Chris Taylor essentially lost his spot to Hyesong Kim, who is riding a hugely hot bat with a 1.065 OPS since being called up, although he got bumped off the 40-man roster by Tommy Edman, who returns from an injury.
- Tommy Edman was activated from the IL, and so was Clayton Kershaw.
- On the other hand, reliever Kirby Yates joined the long list of pitchers that Los Angeles has on the injured list. Before him Roki Sasaki also went onto the IL. Story goes that the Dodgers have tried to defer injuries as well, but it seems that this remains physically impossible.
- Those who could return from the IL during the upcoming series: outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and reliever Michael Kopech.
- Shohei Ohtani was up to 50 pitches in a bullpen session but won’t be in the rotation for this series (nor after it).
- All other pitchers are out until June or after that: the aforementioned Kirby Yates and Roki Sasaki and amongst them also Blake Snell, Blake Treinen, Tyler Glasnow, Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, Gavin Stone and Michael Grove.
And what happened against the Angels? Well, it seems that Angels’ starter Jack Kochanowicz kept the Dodgers off guard in game 1 with a lot of grounders thanks to an excellent sinker and change-up. They were then outslugged in game 2 after a poor start from Clayton Kershaw and a faltering bullpen after him, and got a good start from Kikuchi in game 3 that propelled them to an early lead they were able to hold on until the end.
The Dodgers are 12-8 in their last 20 games, the Diamondbacks 11-9.
Matchups.
All starters are probable starters at the time of writing.
Game #1 Mon 05/19 7:10 PM MST, Landon Knack (LAD) vs Brandon Pfaadt (ARI).
Vin Scully bobblehead.
- Landon Knack. 5 G, 4 GS, 18.1 IP, 2 W-1 L, 5.89 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.53 WHIP, 20/8 K/BB.
- Brandon Pfaadt. 9 GS, 50.2 IP, 6 W-3 L, 3.73 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 44/13 K/BB.
Landon Knack is essentially Blake Snell’s replacement on the Dodgers’ active roster. He started the season in a long-relief appearance in the season opener’s series in Korea and was then optioned to Triple A. After just one start there he was back in the major leagues and made a couple of so-so short starts against the Nationals and Rockies. After another stint in Oklahoma, he was recently called up again. He had a fine start against the Marlins but did worse against the Athletics. The Diamondbacks will be the first “bigger” opponent he will face this season as a starter. Last season Knack faced the D-Backs twice and in both games did the Diamondbacks prevail: on April 30 he went 5 innings and gave up 1 run on 4 hits, while achieving just 2 strikeouts. On the 4th of July he was tagged with 4 runs, 3 homeruns, in 4.1 innings and got the loss.
Brandon Pfaadt had a stinker against the Phillies on May 3, then pitched a good 6.1 innings against the Dodgers and gave up 0 runs before getting tattooed by the Giants with 4 runs over 4 innings. So far it is definitely a tale of Jekyll and Hyde for Pfaadt, with Jekyll being his home outings (1.78 ERA, 5 games) and Hyde his away performance (6.64 ERA, 4 games). That doesn’t bode very well for this matchup but with Knack as the opposing pitcher, the Diamondbacks could end up on the winning side.
Game #2 Tue 05/20 7:10 PM MST, Yoshinubo Yamamoto (LAD) vs Ryne Nelson (ARI).
Mexican Heritage night.
- Yoshinubo Yamamoto. 9 GS, 51.0 IP, 5 W-3 L, 2.12 ERA, 3.05 FIP, 0.98 WHIP, 59/16 K/BB.
- Ryne Nelson. 10 G, 1 GS, 26.1 IP, 1 W-1 L, 5.13 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 28/10 K/BB.
Yamamoto was recently named as one of the frontrunners for the NL Cy Young award and definitely has been great whenever taking the mound although in his last two appearances he struggled a bit more against the Diamondbacks and Braves. Arizona definitely gave him the hardest cookie yet to swallow on May 8, with 5 runs over 5 innings, including 2 homeruns.
Ryne Nelson has been a bit of this and a bit of that this season. He has been everywhere, in Reno, the bullpen and in the starting rotation and will now make his second appearance as a starter, now for Eduardo Rodriguez, and this time it could be that he stays a bit longer in that role. That would be a good thing for Ryne, and for us if he can approach his performance after the 2024 All Star break. His FIP promises that, although he has been giving up more hard hits, more line drives and higher exit velocities. That is playing with fire against the Dodgers.
Game #3 Wed 05/21 7:10 PM MST, Dustin May (LAD) vs Corbin Burnes (ARI).
Will smith bobblehead.
- Dustin May. 8 GS, 44.2 IP, 1 W-4 L, 4.43 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 1.28 WHIP, 41/17 K/BB.
- Corbin Burnes. 8 GS, 45.2 IP, 3 W-1 L, 2.56 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 1.25 WHIP, 43/22 K/BB.
Dustin May started the season really well, but, despite being quite dominant against the Diamondbacks a couple of weeks ago, has had to turf three consecutive losses behind his name over his last 3 outings. On the one hand it highlights the lack of run support in those 3 outings, but also that it is clear that tougher teams suppose a bigger challenge for May. May has lost 2 mph on his pitches when compared to 2023 and even 3 mph when compared to the seasons before that. Maybe he hasn’t built yet enough strength on his arm or maybe this is the new Dustin May going forward. May hardly uses his cutter no more and relies on a sinker, sweeper and four seamer. The groundball profile has returned, but the loss and velocity leads to higher exit velocities and thus more hard hits. This Dustin May is definitely not the one we feared some years ago.
Corbin Burnes is another pitcher that is still looking for his strides. He was terrific in his final 2 outings against the Rockies and Dodgers and even before his short IL-stint he was good enough in several previous outings. But, the media keep on mentioning that the peripherals give food for thought. The velocity on his cutter was up in the last two games, but still hasn’t reached the heights of last season. Is Corbin Burnes indeed outpitching his peripherals and will he come down to earth again? Let’s hope not.