Cody Snavely
The Los Angeles Dodgers head back home to Chavez Ravine for their final homestand of the year, kicking off with their National League West rival, the Colorado Rockies, for a three-game series.
Fresh off a series win over the lowly Miami Marlins, the Dodgers enter this series fresh off a postseason berth—the twelfth straight season they have done so, going back to the 2013 season. The next step will be the National League West crown, as they enter today with a three-game lead over the second-place San Diego Padres.
It was an eventful seven-game road trip for the Dodgers, who come back home winning four of those games. They dropped twenty runs in the series finale against the Marlins, which saw two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani go six-for-six, blast three home runs, steal two bases, and officially create the 50/50 club.
The Dodgers, despite their lackluster pitching over their last ten games, sit with a 5-5 record but welcome a Colorado Rockies team that they have dominated all season, winning five of their seven games played.
The season is all but over for the Rockies as they come into today’s game last place in that National League West with a 59-94 record, thirty-two games back from the leading Dodgers and twenty-six games back from the final National League wild-card spot and have been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention for a sixth straight season.
However, they can still play spoiler as they play the Dodgers six times over the final nine games of the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season. With the San Diego Padres only four games out, each game in this series counts for LA, which is trying to lock up its eleventh division title in twelve seasons.
Colorado has played good baseball over its last ten games, winning six of them, including a three-game series over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs, so the Dodgers should not take them lightly.
Pitching match-ups
Game One: Walker Buehler (1-5, 5.54 ERA) vs Kyle Freeland (LHP)(5-7, 4.89 ERA)
Game Two: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-2, 2.63 ERA) vs Cal Quantrill (LHP)(8-10, 4.68 ERA)
Game Three: TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Antonio Senzatela (0-0, 6.00 ERA)
Game Times
Game One: 7:10 PM PT, SNLA, Colorado Rockies TV
Game Two: 6:10 PM PT, SNLA, Colorado Rockies TV
Game Three: 1:10 PM PT, SNLA, Colorado Rockies TV
Who’s in & who’s out?
The Los Angeles Dodgers have yet to announce a starter for Friday’s game, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts suggested that the team would make a roster move. The most likely arm to start is left-handed pitcher Justin Wrobleski, who has been lingering in Triple-A OKC.
Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Miami Marlins, the Dodgers opted to option right-handed pitchers Bobby Miller and Michael Grove to make room for righties Joe Kelly and newly signed relief pitcher Zach Logue.
Miller, despite the injuries to the Dodgers’ starting rotation, is likely not to return this season after producing an 8.52 ERA over fifty-six innings in his sophomore season. Despite not admitting it, Miller has been battling a shoulder and knee injury all season, and a breakdown from Honestly Dodgers showcases that Miller’s mechanics are declining because of it.
Right-handed pitcher Gavin Stone has yet to begin throwing, as the club initially hoped he would pick up a baseball during the Miami Marlins’ three-game series. With only nine games remaining this season and the postseason less than two weeks away, Dave Roberts stated it was very unlikely Stone would return this season. However, Stone told the media he is not entirely done just yet.
If Stone is done, the Dodgers would have lost their two most dependable pitchers at the end of the season. The club has already transferred righty Tyler Glasnow to the 60-day injured list to make room for Logue.
Veteran left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw threw an eighty-pitch bullpen session in Miami this past week as he continues rehabbing a bone spur in his left toe. While a regular season return grows increasingly unlikely, Kershaw seems confident he’ll return for the postseason.
Austin Barnes‘ regular season is also done as the veteran backstop is nursing a fractured toe. Rookie Hunter Feduccia should get at least one start this series as the Dodgers plan on starting Will Smith for all three games against the San Diego Padres.
The Rockies are relatively healthy at this point of the season. Their biggest loss is former all-star and 2016 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner Kris Bryant, who is likely out for the season due to a back injury.
Bryant, limited to 159 games thus far in his first three seasons of a seven-year, $182 million contract, is doing back exercises in hopes of returning to baseball activities and, eventually, to the field this year. But with nine games remaining, it seems unlikely.
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