The Philadelphia Phillies will enter this series with a better record than the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the start of the year, you could predict one of these teams would be over .500 and one under by the time this series came up on the schedule; you would’ve just guessed it would be the opposite way around. The Dodgers’ injury list keeps growing while the Phillies are overachieving in much the same manner they did last April.
This series will be contested from Friday, April 28, 2017 through Sunday, April 30, 2017 at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. Saturday's clash is being shown live on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
It has been a rough season so far for Kenta Maeda who, with Clayton Kershaw down for a while last year, was the team’s most reliable arm.
The right-hander looks lost on the mound. He’s admitted his confidence is shaken and he was even toying around with a cutter during his latest bullpen session. He decided to scrap the pitch in Spring Training after it failed to develop as he wanted. Nevertheless, it’s like batting practice against him for lefties and he needs some weapon to help minimize the damage.
After four games, lefties are hitting .341 against him with four home runs in 41 at bats. Look for the Phillies to find a spot for Brock Stassi in the lineup as well as sending Daniel Nava, Michael Saunders, Odubel Herrera, Freddy Galvis and Ceasar Hernandez to plate against him from the left side.
Overall, Maeda seems to be getting worse as the confidence further erodes. His last start he went five innings, giving up a season high six runs, nine hits and four home runs.
Maeda matches up against Jerad Eickhoff who is throwing the ball very well. He’s yet to record a win, but has a 2.55 ERA and 1.054 WHIP in 24.2 innings of work spread over his four starts. In his sole career start against the Dodgers, however, he gave up four runs on seven hits though he did last six innings. He’s coming off an outing against the Braves where he allowed just one run and struck out seven, but lasted only five innings. Pitch efficiency still plagues him.
After Eickhoff on Friday, the Phillies have Zach Eflin slated to start Saturday. Eflin had a 5.54 ERA in 11 starts last year, but has done well in two starts since being recalled this year. He’s allowed three runs in 12 innings and was particularly good in his last start, giving up one run on three hits over seven innings against the Braves.
Brandon McCarthy is set for the Saturday start for the Dodgers. He was lost coming back from Tommy John surgery last year, but has been stellar in 24 innings here in 2017, pitching to a 2.25 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 24 innings. He’s 3-0 to start the year.
The veteran right-hander has made two career starts against the Phillies. He’s yet to record a win against them, but has given up two runs in 15 combined innings, striking out 17.
Sunday’s head-to-head pitching matchup is still up in the air. Clayton Kershaw would be on regular rest, but the team could push him back a day and go with Hyun-Jin Ryu who last started on Monday. For the Phillies, it seems likely they turn to Nick Pivetta to start that game. He was supposed to start on Wednesday until a rain out pushed back Vince Velasquez.
Who's Hot?
Chris Taylor has been on fire since getting the call to help replace Logan Forsythe at second base. He’s 6-for-his-first-14 with a home runs and a pair of doubles. Otherwise, Yasiel Puig is showing much of the upside we all knew he had for years while Corey Seager and Justin Turner are hitting as you’d expect them to hit with a 151 and 154 OPS+ respectively.
The Phillies’ hottest hitter is Cesar Hernandez. He had an 0-for on Wednesday, but has provided 10 multi-hit games already and has shown power as well. Much in the Daniel Murphy role, until his last few years, Hernandez is a hitting machine, but has been a bit underrated due to his previous lack of power and his lack of speed.
If Hernandez’s power holds, he will raise himself into an entirely different class of ballplayer. For now, he’s as dangerous as anyone else on the Phillies’ roster.
Who's Not?
Sergio Romo certainly falls into this list for the Dodgers. Los Angeles’ bullpen has been pretty solid overall, ranking No. 10 in all of baseball in ERA, but Romo hasn’t been a part of the success. The former Giant closer has a 10.57 ERA in 7.2 innings and has been relegated to mop up innings.
The Dodgers’ outfield is also having issues, though much of that is injury driven. L.A. has called up Cody Bellinger who is seeing time in the outfield. The 21-year old first baseman turned outfielder is one of the best prospects in all of baseball and was hitting .343 with five bombs and 15 RBIs in 18 games at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He’s a career .271 hitter with a .501 career slugging percentage in the minors.
For the Phillies, Jeanmar Gomez lost the closer role early after he should never have gotten it to begin with. Hector Neris is now in that role and his stuff is much more suited for it.
Offensively, Maikel Franco had been struggling. He’s hitting just .203, but he did just hit a Grand Slam and he does have 20 RBIs.
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