The Milwaukee Brewers’ nine-game swing through the NL West continues with a three-game weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After dropping two of three against the last-place Giants, taking on the first-place Dodgers is a tall order for a team struggling to stay relevant in the NL Central and NL Wild Card races. The Dodgers, on the other hand, are coasting and are already looking towards the postseason.
This series will be contested from Friday, August 25, 2017 through Sunday, August 27, 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Sunday’s game will be broadcast live on MLB Network for those outside the local viewing area.
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Pitching Matchups
The pitching staff has overachieved for the Brewers this season and that’s why the remain in the hunt here as the month of August winds down.
The best pitcher for the Brew Crew this year had been Chase Anderson before he went on the DL. He’s back and will make the start on Friday night. In his first start off the DL, he threw five innings of one-run ball against the Rockies in Coors. The Dodgers offense is a bit deeper than the Rockies, but Dodger Stadium is a much friendlier environment for a pitcher.
Anderson threw 73 pitches in his return and should be clear for some extra on Friday, but don’t look for him to get into the triple-digits just yet.
Of course, the Brewers will take even a shortened outing by Anderson. The 29-year old right-hander has really come into his own this year. He’s 7-2 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.101 WHIP in 95.1 innings of work. He’s cut down on the walks, the homers and added more swing and miss to his game.
While Anderson has been better this year, he’s had demons against the Dodgers. He’s 1-3 in eight starts pitching to a 5.67 ERA.
To counter Anderson, the Dodgers will turn to Kenta Maeda who at this point is just one of the many mid-rotation options they have. He is, however, a rare right-hander for this rotation.
The second-year starter is 11-5 with a 3.88 ERA and 1.114 WHIP. Maeda pitches well while on the mound, but isn’t one to go deep in games. He lasted just four innings in his start against the Brewers this June, allowing two runs. He’s pitched at least six innings only twice in his last nine appearances. He’s also allowed eight runs over his last 11.1 innings so he’s not at his peak right now.
As the series progresses, the Brewers will turn to Zach Davies and Jimmy Nelson to make the starts on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Davies took the loss on Monday, despite only giving up two-runs in six innings. The offense behind him left him down. Davies, of course, is not an ace, but he’s a serviceable arm and leads the team with 14 wins.
Interestingly, Davies has done his best work on the road. He’s got a 5.97 ERA at home and 2.33 ERA on the road. He’s made 13 starts in each case.
Davies has also been a second half pitcher, going 4-3 with a 2.58 ERA in the second half.
As for Nelson, he’s 9-6 with a 3.79 ERA and is tops on the team in innings. He’s also pitched to a 3.15 FIP. Unlike the other arms in this rotation, he’s underperformed per his peripherals while the rest of the staff has gotten a bit lucky.
Thus, Nelson is the most likely to continue his success.
The Dodgers will counter the Brewers’ young guns over the weekend with Ross Stripling and Yu Darvish.
Stripling is in the rotation with Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood on the DL. Darvish is also on the DL, but expected to come off for Sunday.
If Stripling does make the start Saturday, it’ll be the first of the season and if Maeda cannot go deep on Friday, that could tire the bullpen. Stripling has been good in the pen with a 3.41 ERA as the team’s long man, but he cannot be expected to face the Brewers’ order more than two times through.
As for Darvish, we’ll see if the lower back stiffness is gone. He also experienced some mechanical issues before going on the shelf. He was working out some of the kinks in bullpens while on the DL. We’ll see if that can transfer to the game. He’s pitched well in his three starts for the Dodgers, allowing just five runs in 18 innings while going 2-0.
Injury Breakdown
The Dodgers just recently put Cody Bellinger and Alex Wood on the shelf. Without Wood, we are seeing the Dodgers shake up the rotation some to make due. Meanwhile, Bellinger has been a catalyst for this offense. When he came up from Triple-A is when this team really took off and they’ve not slowed since.
Los Angeles is going to be extra careful with all its players right now given hits place in the standings and the urgency that the Brewers feel is not there for the Dodgers. That could give the Brew Crew an edge, but could also cause them to press a bit too much.
For now, even with Bellinger out, this Dodgers’ lineup is stacked. Adrian Gonzalez is back and the addition of Curtis Granderson have really helped to solidify the team even more without Bellinger.
On the other side, Milwaukee has some concern over the health of Travis Shaw. The third baseman is dealing with an injured foot. We’ll see if he plays and, if he does, if he’s hindered. The Brewers cannot afford to be as cautious as Los Angeles.
Shaw has been a crucial cog in the middle of the order for the Brewers this whole season. Additions of Stephen Vogt and Neil Walker have helped to solidify the order a bit more, but even so, the loss of Shaw leaves a big hole.
Bullpen Comparisons
Potentially shorter outings from Maeda and Stripling helps even the odds, but the Dodgers have the better bullpen.
L.A.’s bullpen has outpitched every other team in baseball per ERA at 2.97. The Brewer’s ERA is over a run higher at 4.04.
Milwaukee did add Anthony Swarzak to help support Corey Knebel in the ninth. The promotion of Josh Hader has also helped, but unlike L.A., Milwaukee needs the starter to go at least six solid frames.
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