Spring Training Preview: Brandon McCarthy Faces Cincinnati Reds
The Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation now appears to be in full swing with Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu making their first starts over the last two days. Friday now brings another opportunity for Brandon McCarthy to get another game under his belt.
McCarthy went two innings and allowed one run on two hits in his first outing. Assuming he doesn’t run into trouble that results in a high pitch count, he’ll likely tack on an additional inning of work Friday against the Cincinnati Reds.
Over his career, McCarthy has faced the Reds four times (three starts) and is 1-2 with an 8.78 ERA. The lone win came in McCarthy’s second start with the New York Yankees last season.
Taking the mound for the Reds is right-hander Jason Marquis. Whereas McCarthy is making his second start of the spring, Friday marks Marquis’ third. He’s thrown a combined five innings and has yet to allow a hit.
Marquis has recorded three strikeouts in each of his two starts thus far and the only batters to reach safely came on two walks he issued in his first outing. Marquis didn’t pitch in the Majors last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, but he nonetheless has plenty of experience facing the Dodgers over his 14-year career — 19 games pitched, including 18 starts.
That being said, the lineup Marquis is now set to face largely differs from the one he last pitched against. Joel Peralta is scheduled to pitch in relief, which would be his Spring Training debut this year. Friday is the only time this spring the two clubs will play each other.
Dodgers Lineup:
DH: Kiké Hernandez
SS: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Andre Ethier
LF: Scott Van Slyke
3B: Juan Uribe
CF: Joc Pederson
2B: Darwin Barney
P: Brandon McCarthy
Reds Lineup:
2B: Skip Schumaker
SS: Kristopher Negron
3B: Todd Frazier
CF: Brennan Boesch
LF: Marlon Byrd
RF: Kyle Waldrop
DH: Chris Dominguez
1B: Donald Lutz
C: Tucker Barnhart
P: Jason Marquis
[divide]Zack Greinke Working On Improving Slider
