Editorials

Preview: Mike Bolsinger Starts In Place Of Clayton Kershaw To Face A’s

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who were held to three hits by Sonny Gray on Tuesday night, now face the task of looking to bounce back without Clayton Kershaw on the mound, as was initially expected.

Kershaw was scratched Wednesday afternoon due to a sore hip that he largely refused to provide any details on. Mike Bolsinger starts in place of the reigning National League MVP, taking the mound for the first time since July 22 in Atlanta.



The outing was one which Bolsinger threw seven innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits en route to picking up his first win since June 8. Over eight starts since that time, Bolsinger owns a 3.58 ERA and has thrown 40.2 innings. The key to Bolsinger’s success is his ability to induce ground balls. In his three losses, opponents have a ground ball percentage of 56.3 percent or less.

Jesse Chavez starts for the A’s, a right-hander who uses his cut fastball nearly as much as has four-seam fastball. Chavez enters the game with a 1-4 record over his last five starts with a 5.19 ERA. While the 31-year-old has a 3.45 ERA on the season, his 3.71 xFIP indicates that his defense has helped him in his 17 starts.

Hopefully this will bode well for the Dodgers, who have slashed .213/.253/.372 over the last week of play, though with only 13 RBIs. Surprisingly over this stretch, Jimmy Rollins leads the Dodgers with a .357 batting average and three home runs.

Rollins gets the opportunity to jumpstart the Dodgers’ offense as he replaces Joc Pederson atop the order. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly indicated after Tuesday’s loss he had given some thought to dropping Pederson in the lineup. With Justin Turner still sidelined Alex Guerrero gets a rare start at third base.

Dodgers Lineup:

SS: Jimmy Rollins

2B: Howie Kendrick

1B: Adrian Gonzalez

C: Yasmani Grandal

LF: Andre Ethier

RF: Yasiel Puig

CF: Joc Pederson

3B: Alex Guerrero

P: Mike Bolsinger

A’s Lineup:

CF: Billy Burns

1B: Ike Davis

RF: Josh Reddick

C: Stephen Vogt

3B: Brett Lawrie

SS: Marcus Semien

LF: Sam Fuld

P: Jesse Chavez

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Brett Anderson On Facing Athletics

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