The Giants and Dodgers’ first meeting of the season just got several shakes of spice.
Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and Los Angeles ace Trevor Bauer was pushed back from his scheduled start on Thursday and will start Friday’s series opener against the Giants at Oracle Park, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced on Wednesday.
With Bauer, Los Angeles’ big free-agent splash this offseason, on the bump for the Dodgers and former Dodger Alex Wood starting for the Giants, the season series is set for one heck of an introduction.
"After the last turn, I had seen that they'd be my next start … so I'm excited," Wood said. "They'll be a great test. They're a great ballclub. They know me intimately, and I know them pretty intimately too as well, so it'll be a fun test for us next weekend.”
“The Dodgers have a good rotation going against us when we get back to San Francisco,” said manager Gabe Kapler. “Obviously, Bauer’s one of the better starters in baseball and I know he’s going to be ready for our club, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
For all the, deserved, hype of the burgeoning rivalry between the Dodgers and the Padres, it has been San Francisco and Los Angeles who have been the best in the West early on. The Giants have been far and away one of the biggest surprises in baseball, coming into Thursday with a league-leading 27 wins.
While the duel between the Northern and Southern California rivals will be an entertaining affair, neither team will be operating at full strength.
The Dodgers, who have suffered a litany of injuries, will be without several members of their core, including former MVP Cody Bellinger (hairline fracture of left tibia), World Series MVP Corey Seager (fractured right hand) and All-Star AJ Pollock (left hamstring strain).
The Giants will be down several key players as well as righty Logan Webb was placed on the 10-day IL with right shoulder tightness, the team announced Thursday. Left-hander José Álvarez was reinstated and will take Webb’s place on the active roster.
With Webb unable to make his scheduled start on Saturday against the Dodgers, the Giants will evaluate options at Triple-A Sacramento, as well as the bullpen.
Even with the depleted rosters, the series between the two rivals should generate plenty of palpable buzz with a limited capacity crowd on-hand at Oracle Park to witness the two West Coast foes duke it out. For Kapler, this upcoming series will be his first opportunity to take part in the rivalry with fans in attendance, a privilege he did not have in his first season as San Francisco’s skipper.
“Looking ahead, I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting series, and it’ll be nice to know that we have our fans supporting us,” Kapler said.
Back end of bullpen swaps roles
There was an interesting wrinkle towards the end of Wednesday’s 4-0 win over the Reds as relievers lefty Jake McGee and righty Tyler Rogers effectively swapped roles.
McGee came on for the hold in the eighth inning to face the bottom of Cincinnati’s order while Rogers was summoned to pitch against the top of the order in the ninth. Typically, Rogers will serve as the setup man and McGee will close.
McGee has been struggling mightily in recent weeks. Since April 17, he has a 7.30 ERA across 12 1/3 relief innings with two blown saves. During that stretch, opponents are hitting .315/.339/.574 off the southpaw.
“We just saw the bottom of the lineup a little bit more favorable for Jake and the top of the lineup more favorable for [Rodgers],” Kapler said on Wednesday. “It’s not always going to work out that way, but it is something that we’ve talked to them about. They’re both comfortable with it, and these guys are team players and are working as a team to take on the eighth and ninth inning right now.”
"wood" - Google News
May 20, 2021 at 11:45PM
https://ift.tt/2QBxokY
Bauer-Wood matchup kicks off LA-SF series - MLB.com
"wood" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3du6D7I
No comments:
Post a Comment