Editorials

Series Preview: Dodgers Look to Regain Momentum vs. Giants

Let’s just take that series versus the Marlins and throw it out the window, okay? After playing their hottest baseball of the early season, the Dodgers dropped two of three at home to the Miami Marlins. This was a series that fans expected LA to sweep, and days later we’re still trying to wrap our heads around how exactly they lost the series. But, this is why baseball is such an amazing sport. They can put that series behind them, and regain momentum as they travel to San Francisco to take on the Giants.

If you’re getting sick of seeing those guys from up north, I don’t blame you. After this four-game series, these two rivals will have squared off 10 times through the first 27 games. No worries, Dodgers fans. We won’t have to see them again until the middle of June.



This series will be a battle of the sub .500 teams. Coming into the series, the Dodgers are 11-12 and the Giants are 11-13. As mentioned earlier, the Dodgers are coming off of a forgettable series versus the Marlins. The Giants are coming off of impressive series wins against the Nationals and Angels.

Projected Starters:

Friday: Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-0, 1.99 ERA) vs. Derek Holland (0-3, 4.98 ERA)

Ryu has been a pleasant surprise this season for LA. He’s currently undefeated and has an ERA under two. He has 27 strikeouts in 22.2 innings. More impressively, his owns a WHIP of 0.88. After a shaky start to open the season, Ryu has been dominant in his last three starts. Over the last three games, Ryu has gone at least six innings in each start. He’s also struck out at least eight in every start as well. Hits have been tough to come by as well, as opposing teams have only been able to scatter six in 19 innings.

It’s been a shaky start to the season for Holland. Currently win-less on the season, Holland comes into the series without going deeper than six innings in any start. He’s coming off a rough start against the Angels, where he allowed three home runs in the loss.

Saturday Afternoon: Walker Buehler (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Chris Stratton (2-1, 2.32 ERA)

This is a make up game of the one that was rained out earlier in the month. Buehler is coming off of his highly anticipated major league debut. He went five innings, striking out five and walking three. His fastball touched triple digits on multiple occasions, and showed flashes of the potential Dodgers fans are eager to see. It will be exciting to see how he looks in his first career start versus the Giants.

Stratton has been a pleasant surprise for San Francisco this season. His last three starts have been nothing short of dominant. He’s gone seven innings twice, and 6.2 in his other start. Over those starts, he has 17 strikeouts, and has only allowed three runs. His best start of the season came against the Padres, where he allowed one hit over seven innings. The Giants have won his last four starts.

Saturday Evening: Alex Wood (0-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. Johnny Cueto (2-0, 0.35 ERA)

Aside from a disastrous start against Oakland where he allowed seven runs, Wood has looked like the potential ace we all saw rise to stardom last year. He’s allowed five runs in his four other starts, including no runs allowed in two starts. His WHIP also sits at 0.83, one of the lowest in the league.

Speaking of lowest in the league, Johnny Cueto currently owns the lowest ERA in the majors. Cueto is having a bounce back season, to say the least. Through 26 innings, he’s only allowed one run. In three of his four starts, he has allowed two hits or less. He also has 23 strikeouts compared to only four walks.

Sunday: Kenta Maeda (2-1, 3.10 ERA) vs. Ty Blach (1-3, 4.31 ERA)

In three of his four starts, Kenta has allowed two earned runs or less. Twice this year he has reached double digits in strikeouts. In his one outing against the Giants this year, Maeda came out of the pen. In one inning, he struck out two.

Ty Blach hasn’t had a great start to 2018, but he has the Dodgers’ number. In his starts against LA, the Dodgers have been able to put up only one run against him.

Player to Watch:

A player to keep an eye on for the Giants is Brandon Belt. He leads the ball club in home runs, runs batted in, batting average, and on-base percentage. Over the last week, he’s hitting .444 with three homers and five runs driven in. On the year versus the Dodgers he’s only hitting .200.

Analysis:

This is a huge series for both teams. The Giants are looking towards getting their third consecutive series win, where the Dodgers are looking to climb back over .5oo. This should be a great series!

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Blake Harris

Blake is currently studying sports journalism at Arizona State University. He covers both the basketball and baseball teams, while hosting a weekly baseball show on the school's radio program. In his spare time, he edits highlight videos for collegiate and professional athletes. He currently has over 125,000 subscribers and 70 million views on Youtube. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he passionately roots for the Dodgers, Clippers, and Saints.

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