Tag Archives: Chase Utley

Apr 22

Game 18, 2017

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Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Kenta Maeda (1-1, 7.07 ERA) goes for the Dodgers, YALHP Robbie Ray (1-0, 1.96 ERA) for the D-Backs. If you’re counting, Ray is the 10th lefty to start against the Dodgers in 18 games.

Maeda pitched against the Diamondbacks Saturday night, giving up four runs on four hits in four innings. He has yet to settle in this season; the Dodgers are hoping extra bullpen and two extrad days of rest will get him on the right track. Ray faced the Dodgers Monday night, went six innings, gave up two runs, walked four, struck out ten and got no decision for his trouble.

Lineup when available.

So apparently Joc’s deemed not likely to succeed as well against the lefty Ray as he did leading off against the righty Walker last night. No Toles, no Utley, no Seager: I don’t quite understand Dave Roberts’ reasoning here.

Nov 03

Now the offseason has officially begun

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And it starts with the announcement that nine Dodgers are officially free agents. Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen top the list, followed by by starting pitchers Rich Hill and Brett Anderson, relievers Joe Blanton, J.P. Howell and Jesse Chavez, outfielder Josh Reddick and second baseman Chase Utley. Scott Kazmir and Carlos Ruiz could join the list depending on their respective opt-outs.

My personal opinion? Keeping Turner and Jansen should be management’s first priority. After that it’s mixed. I doubt they’ll keep Utley. I think I’d keep Blanton and Howell, I’d try to keep Hill, and I’d watch Reddick and Chavez go.

What do you think?

Sep 10

Game 141, 2016

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Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-F

Lefty Rich Hill (11-3, 1.94 ERA) makes his third start for the Dodgers. In his first two he’s thrown 12 scoreless innings. He’ll face RHP Tom Koehler (9-10, 3.87 ERA), who hasn’t won since August 9 but whose last outing was six shutout innings against Cleveland on September 4.

Personnel move:

“Manager Dave Roberts said Ethier will get an occasional start, but with the club’s outfield depth, Ethier will mostly be used coming off the bench as a late-innings pinch-hitter.”

Lineup:

Hmm. Utley gets the day off and Kendrick is back at 2B for the first time in a while. His LF slot will be taken by Puig.

Sep 09

Game 140, 2016

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Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-F, MLBN free game (out-of-market only)

Today marks the return of Clayton Kershaw after 75 days or so of inaction while he recovered from a herniated disk in his back. He was having a career year (11-2, 1.79 ERA) before the injury, which is saying something considering how good his first 8 years were. His opponent will be the Marlins’ own ace, Jose Fernandez (13-8, 3.03 ERA). Fernandez is even better at home: 10-2 with a 1.91 ERA at Marlins Park this year.

Chase Utley, who’s played 177 games against the Marlins in his career, has hit 30 HRs and gotten 125 RBIs against them.

Lineup when available.

Sep 05

Game 137, 2016

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Today sees Zack Greinke’s (12-4, 4.17 ERA) return to Dodger Stadium to face Kenta Maeda (13-8, 3.38 ERA). Greinke beat the Dodgers in Phoenix on July 13 while Maeda has seen the D-Backs four times this year, going 1-1 with a 3.68 ERA with 20 strikeouts against just three walks. He’s been on a roll recently, going 5-1 in his last seven starts while posting a 3.71 ERA.

Scoreboard watch: the Giants play the Rockies in Denver at 1:10PM PT.

In case you missed it, here’s a great throw (Pederson) and tag (Utley) from yesterday’s game:

Lineup when available.

Aug 25

Game 127, 2016

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Giants at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CS-BA

The Dodgers send rookie RHP Ross Stripling (3-4, 4.04 ERA) out to face the Giants for the first time since his MLB debut when he pitched 7 1/3 innings of no-hit ball on April 8 of this year.

Moore (7-10, 4.18 ERA) was acquired by the Giants at the trade deadline last month. He’s made four starts, walked 22, struck out 17 and posted a 4.70 ERA in 23 innings for them since then.

A-Gon is on a 17-game hitting streak. Utley has a sore foot and may be replaced by Kendrick at 2B. Howie is 6-14 with a double against Moore over his career.

Lineup when available.

Aug 13

Game 116, 2016

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Pirates at Dodgers, 1:05PM PT, TV: FS1, SPNLA, ROOTSPIT

Brandon McCarthy (2-2, 3.00 ERA) goes for the Dodgers and Gerrit Cole (7-7, 2.94 ERA) goes for the Buccos. McCarthy hopes he’s solved the mysterious loss of control he’s exhibited over the last three games he’s started. Cole had a rough game his last time out against the Reds, but he’s 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA in his only two career starts at Dodger Stadium.

Chase Utley had made 409 plate appearances this season entering Friday’s game and had not hit into a double play in even one of them.

Lineup:

Jun 08

Game 61, 2016

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ROOT SPORTS

The rubber match of the three-game series features Kenta Maeda (5-3, 2.84 ERA) for the Dodgers and Chris Rusin (1-4, 4.62 ERA) for the Rockies. Maeda has allowed but one run in his last 11 1/3 innings over two starts, and in Rusin’s last start he went seven innings and gave up three runs.

Remember the kerfuffle at the Mets’ stadium when the Dodgers wanted to mark the outfield in order to position their players out there, and the Mets said “Holy Tris Speaker, NO!” Here’s a discussion and an exhortation for MLB to recognize that this is the 21st century and technology is here to stay.

Lineup when available.


Now this is a weird lineup. Seager out, Utley out, Pederson out. I’m all for giving guys days off, but three including two of your bigger producers in the same game?

May 29

Game 51, 2016

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Dodgers at Mets, 5:00PM PT, TV: ESPN2

Sunday Night Baseball in Queens features Clayton Kershaw (7-1, 1.48 ERA) starting for the Dodgers and Bartolo Colon (4-3, 3.44 ERA) starting for the Mets. Kershaw has already thrown three shutouts this month, so it’s not impossible he could get another.

Kershaw is 7-0 with a 1.17 ERA and has held Mets’ hitters to a .185 average over 10 career starts. Colon has had rather less success against the Dodgers: 2-6 with a 5.54 ERA. Of course, the rosters don’t remain static: if you were 3-0 against a team five years ago the odds are good that very few of the guys you beat then remain on the team this season. On the other hand, in Colon’s long career Utley (10 hits in 20 ABs, three for extra bases) and Gonzalez (12 for 27 with two home runs) have hurt him.

Lineup when available.


Despite what that says, Howie Kendrick is in LF.

May 27

Game 49, 2016

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Dodgers at Mets, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Dodgers’ 19-year-old rookie Julio Urias makes his first MLB start against the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (3-1, 3.07 ERA), who’s hit a bad patch: he’s 0-1 with a 4.63 ERA over his last four starts.

This will be Chase Utley’s first appearance in NYC since he slid into the Mets’ then-shortstop Ruben Tejada during the playoffs last year, a collision which resulted in a broken leg for the infielder. Tejada has since moved on to the Cardinals, but the Mets fans are still there and are expected to be loud in their displeasure toward the Dodgers’ second-baseman.

For those on the road or away from the West Coast, this will be “an MLB Network Showcase game, [which] can be seen free on MLB.TV and will feature MLB Plus — MLB.com’s data-driven online broadcast that uses Statcast™ and other analytical and broadcast elements to deliver an in-depth discussion about both the action on the field and the big picture.”

Here’s Vinnie reciting the “People Will Come” soliloquy from “Field of Dreams.”

Lineup when available.