Duck, Dip, Dive: Mariners at Dodgers Series Preview
The Mariners try to salvage a terrible road trip with a three-game series in Los Angeles.
What a patently loathsome stretch of baseball the Mariners have inflicted upon anyone who has dared to watch any of their road-trip shenanigans. Surely a three game series on the road against baseball’s ultimate juggernaut will improve spirits, right?
(Honestly, wouldn’t put it past these knuckleheads to step up and actually play some competitive baseball against improved competition. That’s been their MO thus far.)
Another year, another season with the Dodgers on top of the NL West. Ho, hum. La, di, da. It’s wild what money can do.
When Jake and I collaborate on these, he puts a nice little bracketed placeholder that says “Lineup overview goes here.” In the case of the Dodgers, I feel like we can leave it at hahaha haha ha. Ha. What else are you supposed to do with a lineup that gives you Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in swift succession?
And yeah, 2024 Home Run Derby winner Teoscar Hernández, who is still striking out at a high rate you may recall from his year in Seattle, but now with offensive production that properly compensated for it. Oh, and Los Angeles should be activating Max Muncy and Tommy Edman to provide even more reinforcements for their lineup. Fun!
Probable Pitchers
With all the injuries in the Dodgers starting rotation, Gavin Stone has had a much larger role than expected entering the season. He has responded by posting a perfectly solid 1.7 fWAR with a league average FIP. But since the calendar flipped to July, he’s slowed down with a 6.12 ERA across seven starts. He’s approaching a career high in innings pitched and it’s possible he’s feeling the effects of the long MLB season. As far as his arsenal is concerned, he possesses a deep repertoire of pitches with his changeup and slider the standout secondary offerings. His trio of fastballs get knocked around a bit, but he has so many options at his disposal, he can keep batters off balance with a plethora of pitches.
Walker Buehler missed half of 2022 and all of last year after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. His return to big league action has not gone well as he’s struggled mightily with his mechanics after his injury. Dealing with a hip injury over the last two months hasn’t made things any easier. At his best, he was using impeccable command of his four-seamer as his foundation and mixed in three above average secondary offerings to generate plenty of swings and misses. He’s nowhere near his peak right now and is still trying to find his way back to what worked during his peak.
Jack Flaherty was the Dodgers big trade deadline acquisition, nabbing him from the Tigers for a pair of mid-level prospects. Injuries had plagued him for years, but a return to health this year has helped him post his best season since 2019. His fastball has gained a bit of life this year which has had plenty of positive knock on effects throughout his repertoire. He’s always possessed a fantastic curveball but his slider is now producing great results too, giving him two plus breaking balls to attack batters with. The result is a career-best 6.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the fourth best mark in the majors.
The Big Picture:
I don’t want to talk about it.