While San Diego will be outmanned, this is baseball, where any team can win on a given night. The Padres have precious little hope of competing for the National League West this season but will nonetheless hope to pull off a couple upsets in the opening week.
This series will be contested from Monday, April 3, 2017 through Thursday, April 6, 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Monday’s clash is being shown live on ESPN.
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Pitching Matchups
The Dodgers will send the best pitcher in the major leagues to the hill to open the season. Clayton Kershaw will face off against San Diego after putting up unreal numbers again in 2016, finishing with a 12-4 record and an unbelievable 1.69 ERA.
Kershaw missed significant time due to injury, which was the only drawback, but is healthy and ready to go. He will be opposed by Jhoulys Chacin, who signed a one-year deal with the Padres in the offseason after going 6-8 with a 4.81 ERA between the Braves and Angels a season ago. The Dodgers will be big-time favorites in that one with the best pitcher in the game taking the ball.
On Tuesday, it will be the Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda against San Diego’s Clayton Richard. They will be followed by LA’s Rich Hill on Wednesday, although the Padres are yet to announce their starter for that game. On Thursday, Jered Weaver will take the mound for San Diego against an unknown foe for the Dodgers. Weaver is a former ace but his velocity has disappeared in recent years and he may struggle badly in this one.
Player to Watch
Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager came onto the scene strong a season ago, but is expected to take even another step forward in 2017. He is one of the most talented players in the game and won the Rookie of the Year last year after finishing with a .308 average, 26 homers, 72 RBIs and an .877 OPS.
Seager finished third in the MVP voting at the age of 22 and should continue to improve while putting together a long and impressive career. The Padres’ pitching is suspect and Seager could have a big start to his season.
Opposite Ends Of The Spectrum
Fangraphs did its preseason projections, and believes the Dodgers will tie the Cubs for the best record in the major leagues this season with 94 wins apiece. The Padres, meanwhile, were pegged for last with only 66 victories. The Dodgers are nicely balanced, able to score runs as well as prevent them.
The Padres’ big issue will likely be scoring, as they play in a cavernous park and don’t have very many elite hitters. The pitching isn’t much better as the team has plenty of issues as it tries to rebuild and get back into contention over the next few years.
San Diego’s starting pitching staff lacks stars and the offense only has a couple. The Padres’ Wil Myers will do what he can to have a big series but the depth is not there.
The Dodgers are clearly superior and get to play this opening-season series at home. It would be a disappointment for Los Angeles if it splits this series, and it’s expected that the Dodgers can pull out at least three wins. The first one seems like a virtual lock with Kershaw heading to the hill.
The Cubs are tough, but the Dodgers think they are worthy foes and will aim for a fast start against the inferior Padres.
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