Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen will all be staying put in south Florida as the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers join the All-Stars for a weekend series against the Miami Marlins. The Dodgers will look to maintain the best record in baseball as they push forward into the second half of the season.
This series will be contested from Friday, July 14, 2017 through Sunday, July 16, 2017 at Marlins Park in Miami.
Bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
Pitching Matchups
Kershaw and Wood have been the stories of this pitching staff, but it’ll be Brandon McCarthy that’ll kick off the second half for the Dodgers, taking the mound on Friday opposite of the Marlins’ Dan Straily.
McCarthy has had a great season in his own right, giving the team a viable right-handed option down the stretch.
The veteran right-hander has spent some time on the DL, but when healthy he’s been good, tossing 14 games, going 6-3 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.128 WHIP. His success hasn’t just been based on luck either. His 3.25 FIP is only marginally worse than Kershaw’s. He’s not a big strikeout pitcher which makes him a bit less sexy than other options, but he’s done an excellent job limiting walks. He’s also only allowed four home runs in his 78 innings of work.
McCarthy did well against the Marlins earlier this year, allowing just a single hit in six innings to capture the win.
As for Straily, he’s been the best Marlins’ starter, going 7-4 with a 3.31 ERA in 18 starts. He’s doing a great job keeping runnres off base with a 1.045 WHIP though he has allowed 14 home runs in 103.1 innings.
This is the second straight strong year for Straily so there’s some reason to believe in the numbers continuing. He’s also coming off a very strong outing his last time out, going 8.1 innings and allowing just one runs on four hits and no walks against the Giants.
As the series moves along to Saturday, the Dodgers will turn to one of their big boys, giving the ball to Wood.
Wood needed Kershaw to bow out of the All-Star game to get a spot, but he certainly deserved it. He’s 10-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 15 games, 13 of them starts. His 2.03 FIP is nearly a run better than Kershaw’s and his 0.893 WHIP is nearly as good. He’s really cut down on the walks and has struck out 97 batters in 80.2 innings of work. He’s also only allowed two home runs which is a great stat for a pitcher going against a team that features Giancarlo Staton, Justin Bour and Marcell Ozuna.
The Dodgers certainly have the upper hand on Saturday regardless of who the Marlins throw. They’ve not yet announced their rotation beyond Straily. Jose Urena figures to get an early start out of the break. He’s 7-3 with a 3.54 ERA and has been a reliable arm though his FIP is 4.97 so some of his success has been based on luck.
After Urena, the rotation really thins out. Edinson Volquez who has been hit-or-miss is on the DL along with Wei-Yin Chen. Tom Koehler is healthy, but is ERA sure is not. He’s 1-4 with an 8.00 ERA in 10 starts. Vance Worley has a 6.31 ERA in four starts.
Given the options, the Dodgers also have a sizeable advantage on the mound Sunday afternoon. Rich Hill will get the start to wrap up the series.
The veteran southpaw has hit his stride after a rough, injury-plagued start. He’s 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA in his last three starts. In that time, he’s collected 27 strikeouts in 21 innings of work. Overall, he’s 5-4 with a 3.69 ERA, but he’s looked more and more like the dominant curve ball hurler that we saw when he pitched last year both in Oakland and Los Angeles. He’s still a bit fragile, but he’s averaged seven innings in his last three starts.
Who's Hot?
Coming into the break, Dee Gordon’s bat has heated up, giving the Marlins a nice spark plug at the top of the order. It’s no coincidence that the team has surged a bit since he started getting on base. The second baseman is batting .333 with a .380 OBP and 11 steals in his last 24 games.
After him. J.T. Realmuto is batting .322 in his last 22 games while Christian Yelich’s bat is coming around, too. Yelich may be the best hitter of the Marlins’ outfield trio. Sure, Stanton and Ozuna have more power and were both All-Star starters, but Yelich is the more complete gap-to-gap hitter. He’s just had a rough year. Over his last 24 games, however, he’s batting .319 with a .404 OBP and has delivered eight doubles. When he’s on his game, he’s lacing doubles.
Of course, beyond those players, the sluggers are doing their thing, too. Stanton and Ozuna have combined for 18 homers in the team’s last 25 games. Bour’s hit only four of his 20 bombs in the last month, but he did slug 22 in the home run derby.
The Marlins’ offense is stacked, particularly for an under-.500 team. That should stay something about the pitching.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, their lineup is also quite strong and is also clicking on all cylinders right now.
Cody Bellinger continues to slug home runs at pace that even makes Aaron Judge blush. He’s hit 10 homers and driven in 23 runs in his last 26 games. Justin Turner is also slugging. He’s got a .377 average on the season, but he’s hit eight of his 10 homers in the last 23 games.
Of course, Corey Seager is swinging well, but the list really goes on. The team has five players with an OPS over 1.000 in the last month with Joc Pederson leading the way with a .304 average, .435 OBP and .696 slugging.
On the mound, Kenley Jansen is blowing everyone away as he has all year. He’s allowed one run in his last 11 games while notching 10 saves and striking out 14.
Who's Not?
For the Dodgers right now, it’s nearly impossible to find a player having a rough go of it right now. Enrique Hernandez is one, he’s batting .186 in the last month, but he’s a part time player and still has a .324 OBP in that time.
With more attention, Chris Taylor has seen his strikeout numbers spike, but the versatile player is still key to the team’s success, allowing Dave Roberts to spell players all over the field. He’s also hitting .269 with 11 extra base hits in his last 24 games so the Ks are only doing so much.
Out of the pen, Josh Fields has allowed five runs in his last five appearances, totaling 5.1 innings, but he’s still 2-0 in that span so it’s not really been hurting the team.
All in all, the Dodgers’ pen is still only topped by the Indians even as Sergio Romo’s ERA remains elevated at 6.12.
For the Marlins, it’s a different story. Miami bulked up the pen to help alleviate pressure on a lackluster rotation. It hasn’t worked. Miami is allowed 1.11 more runs per nine out of the pen than Los Angeles.
Brad Ziegler was struggling before going on the DL.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go.
Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
