It’s back home for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday where they’ll kick off a three-game series against the NL East leading Washington Nationals. Washington will wrap up a three-city west coast swing in this series and have gotten off to a great start to the nine-game road trip. The Dodgers will be the biggest test, however, as they’re playing great baseball and have worked their way back atop the NL West.
This series will be contested from Monday, June 5, 2017 through Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. Monday's showdown is being shown live on ESPN while the game on Wednesday can be seen on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
Hyun-Jin Ryu is back in the rotation and is throwing the ball well as he gets ready to open the series for the Dodgers. He’ll be followed to the mound by Brandon McCarthy on Tuesday and Clayton Kershaw to wrap up the series on Wednesday.
The Nationals will counter the Dodgers’ starters with Gio Gonzalez, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
The Wednesday afternoon matchup is probably the most interesting. Kershaw is Kershaw and Strasburg is entering the game with a 1.66 ERA and 33 strikeouts in his last three games.
After all the hype earlier in his career, Strasburg has settled into the role of a very good starter over the last several seasons. Injuries still cost him several starts a year. He hasn’t thrown 25 games since 2014, but when he’s on the mound he’s been very good.
Of course, very good isn’t good enough most times opposite of Kershaw, but Strasburg has been better than that lately and is 7-1 with a 2.91 ERA and 1.049 WHIP in his 11 starts. Those seven wins lead the league and he’s also first in the NL with his 2.62 FIP, even better than Kershaw.
Speaking of the talented lefty, he is having a down year—of sorts—for him, but he’s still tied with Strasburg having recorded seven wins. He’s also sporting the NL lead with a 2.28 ERA, 82 innings and a 177 ERA+. His strikeout to walk ratio is also an amazing 8.36. Strasburg is giving up more than twice as many walks.
While Wednesday is the premier matchup, the Nationals are using their ace the game prior and start the series off with a southpaw which has historically given the Dodgers trouble.
Los Angeles is better against lefties this year, but it’s still an area of weakness.
In Monday’s game Ryu against Gonzalez features a pair of lefties. Ryu may be throwing the ball better right now, but Gonzo has had a good season with a 3.03 ERA. He’s 4-1 and the team is 6-5 with him pitching, though they’re just 1-4 in his five starts.
As for Tuesday, Scherzer gives the edge to the Nationals rather cleanly. He’s the team ace and has outpitched Strasburg per ERA and WHIP which sit at 2.56 and 0.892 respectively.
Scherzer is just one out away from having thrown back-to-back complete games, allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out 24 over his last 17.2 innings.
In his career, he’s just 2-4 against the Dodgers, but does have a solid 3.29 ERA in 54.2 innings.
Obviously, Brandon McCarthy doesn’t have nearly the same track record as Scherzer. He’s a solid pitcher, when healthy, but nothing more. That said, he’s having a very good year. He’s 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.164 WHIP. His FIP is just 0.05 points higher than Scherzer’s and he’s allowed just three runs in 15 career innings against the Nats.
Who's Hot?
Few teams have a trio in the middle of the order like Daniel Murphy, Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper. Only Murphy is slightly shy of a 1.000 OPS, but all three have been dominating on the road, each with a road OPS of at least 1.082 and road average of .322 or better.
Murphy has been the best on the road. He’s batting .378 away from the Nation’s Capital and has a 1.124 OPS.
Overall, 27 of the trio’s 41 home runs have come on the road.
In the first few days of the month of June, both Murphy and Zimmerman have been scorching hot, combining to go 14-for-28. Both are building off strong Mays. Though Zimmerman’s .905 OPS was down from his torrid April, it’s still well above any realistic expectations for him.
The Dodgers have gotten a strong performance from Yasiel Puig over the last week, going 7-for-19 with a pair of doubles. Meanwhile, Cody Bellinger is just 5-for-his-last-29, but two of those five were home runs.
Over the last week, Pedro Baez, Grant Dayton, Kenley Jansen, and Brandon Morrow combined for 14.2 scoreless innings out of the pen.
Who's Not?
All in all, the Nationals’ offense—even with the trio hitting—hasn’t been as good as it was in the first few weeks of the year. Sure, Anthony Rendon is swinging well, but the runs have slowed a bit compared to where they were before. The team is still second in baseball in runs scored, behind the Astros, but there are holes in the order.
Trea Turner is struggling. He’s supposed to set the table, but is getting on base just 25-percent of the time. Matt Wieters has cooled immensely since the opening month. He has a .561 OPS in May.
The bullpen is another area of perpetual concern. Koda Glover—the closer for the moment—is two for two in saves chances this past week, has allowed five runs on four hits and a walk in his last three games, spanning 2.1 innings.
Corey Seager is just 3-for-20 over the last week and Bellinger, Yasmani Grandal and Chris Taylor have all racked up the strikeouts this last week.
Over the last month now, Bellinger has continued his power surge, but his average is coming way down. In the last 30-days, he’s hitting .219 with 44 strikeouts. He’s dangerous, but not impossible to get out.
Other struggling Dodgers include Logan Forsythe and Franklin Gutierrez both of whom are keys to the offense against southpaws, leaving the team vulnerable yet again.
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