On the Verge of Elimination…Again – Dodgers Digest

After a promising start to the NLDS with a win in Game 1, the Dodgers find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, with their backs against the wall on the road. Chad wrote the recap of last night's game and aptly titled it: “Early defensive collapse costs Dodgers crucial game“. That's about all you need to know. The Dodgers will do two notable things tonight. The first is that they do not use injured players. Both Miguel Rojas And Freddie Freeman will sit on the bench, with the latter presumably available to pinch hit. The other will opt for a bullpen game as the starter Landon Knack. The Padres have scored 12 of their 21 runs within the first two innings, so any way to avoid that would be greatly appreciated. The Padres will start Dylan Stop it a short break after the start of Game 1 on Saturday. It will be the first time in his professional career, which has spanned over 159 starts, that he will start with a short break.

Regardless, earlier today Dustin wrote about the speed issues in baseball as a whole how it has impacted the Dodgers specifically this season. The Dodgers would be in a very different situation now if they had Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stoneor maybe even River Ryan.

	6:08 p.m		San Diego
DH	Ohtani (L)	1B	Arraez (l.)
RF	Beds	RF	Tatis Jr.
LF	T. Hernandez	LF	Profar (S)
1B	Muncy (L)	3B	Machado
C	Blacksmith	CF	Merrill (L)
SS	Edman (S)	SS	Bogaerts
2B	Lux (L)	DH	Peralta (L)
3B	K. Hernandez	2B	Cronenworth (left)
CF	Taylor	C	Higashioka
P	Brasier (R)	P	Quit (R)

The Dodgers are really mixing things up with Rojas and Freeman both sitting. Chris Taylor is in midfield with Tommy Edman slides to shortstop. I thought that was how it was Andy Pagesbut perhaps you prefer the potential that AB Pages can offer? I'm honestly not sure of the reasoning. Kike Hernandez will be at third base meanwhile Max Muncy slides to first base in Freeman's absence. Freeman missing this game eliminated that possibility altogether, but I would have started Kiké at third ahead of Muncy anyway. Muncy is 2-12 with a home run in Game 2, five strikeouts and no walks. Will Smith has drawn four walks in three games but has yet to record a hit, which is not what you want from your #5 hitter. The Dodgers' offense has been quiet at times for extended periods of time (one hit in the last six innings last night), and Smith and Muncy were unfortunately instrumental in those problems.

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When it comes to starting pitching, things have been pretty ugly for the Dodgers. The Padres scored 21 runs in this series, including 15 off the clock Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack FlahertyAnd Walker Buhler (wrongly). Therefore, a bullpen game might be their best chance to limit San Diego's offense, especially early in the game. The newbie Edgardo Henriquez gave up three earned runs in Game 2, which was already a blast. Michael Grove gave up a run but was replaced by Ben CaspariusAnd Ryan Brasier is responsible for two runs. Everyone except the three starting players should be available today. Landon Knack and Casparius are available for bulk innings, but it seems like the Dodgers want to stay away from the rookies if they can.

In his last outing against the Dodgers in Game 1, Cease did not have a good showing, allowing five earned runs on six hits and two walks over 3.1 innings. Freeman had two hits against Cease Mookie Betts, Gavin LuxRojas and Edman Singles, while Shohei Ohtani added a three-run home run.

Here are the updated stats for everyone against Cease. *Not formatted for today's lineup*

Cease, as I mentioned, will be on three days' rest after throwing 80 pitches in a 3.1-inning outing. The pitch count was relatively low considering he regularly hits 100 or more, but he struggled out there. A short rest is known to have a negative impact on almost every starting player given a large enough sample size. It's hard to say how this will affect Cease, but considering he's never done this in his entire career, it's a bit of a risk. San Diego has a game in hand, so they can afford to take that risk, especially with Yu Darvish lining up for a possible Game 5 anyway. Nothing has changed since I wrote the Game 1 thread about Cease, so I'll just copy what I wrote before this start.

“Cease got off to a decent start against none other than the Dodgers in his 33rd and final regular season start. He allowed three runs on five hits and three walks over five innings with four strikeouts. He generated 20 whiffs but failed to convert them into strikeouts and was a bit of a struggle at the end. If anything, the Dodgers left a few runs on the bases that could have easily scored. They scored a run in the first inning, but if a Will Smith fly ball had gone five feet further, it would have been a 3-0 start. Ohtani hit a 117 MPH one-run double off the right field wall, which would have been a three-run home run had he hit five feet higher. The Dodgers would be more than happy to see a repeat of their performance tonight. Despite 224 strikeouts this season, he had a bit of a problem getting that many strikeouts down the stretch. He had just four strikeouts early against the Dodgers, which marked the fourth time in his last six starts that he failed to strike out at least five batters. He was excellent in the middle of the season, but has a 3.66 ERA in his last nine starts and 51.2 innings, with just 48 strikeouts to 22 walks. He struggled with walks at times and walked three or more batters in half of his last 14 starts.”

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This probably means avoiding Knack and Casparius.

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First pitch will be at 6:08 PT on FS1.