The Dodgers are also not as good as they were last year while battling a variety of injuries.
Another year, another season where the Dodgers are the best team in baseball. It’s wild what mad money can do, huh.
OK, except it’s a bit more complicated than that. Apparently not even mad money can buy you pitcher health. Earlier this year, leading Dallas orthopedic surgeon Keith Meister, acting against interest, sounded the alarm about mounting pitcher injuries. That was back in March, and now it looks like Meister was all too right.
The Orioles will be down a full starting rotation as they embark on a rare trip to Dodger Stadium, but their opponents are missing, not one, not two, not three, but… eight starters. Flashy offseason signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been out since July with triceps tightness (he’s scheduled to return in September). Rookie River Ryan has forearm tightness, Brusdar Graterol a hamstring, Tyler Glasnow elbow tendinitis, Dustin May flexor tendon surgery and both Emmet Sheehan and Tony Gonsolin had Tommy John, along with, of course, the otherworldly Shohei Ohtani, who’s lighting it up as a hitter but won’t be back on a mound until 2025.
All this means is that, while the Dodgers do have an MLB-best 78 wins, they’re not steamrolling everyone else the way they did in their ridiculous 111-win 2022 season. Only two wins separate them from the second-place Orioles heading into this series.
The Dodgers can certainly hit, though: their 114 wRC+ ranks first in the NL. Shohei Ohtani continues to be a beast at the DH position, and so, year in and year out, are Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, plus 2024 Home Run Derby winner Teoscar Hernández. They’re not getting a ton of production from Gavin Lux at second base, or Tommy Edman, recently activated in centerfield, but a solid Will Smith at catcher, Max Muncy at third, and Miguel Rojas at short round out a very solid lineup.
The Orioles’ final swing through California this season means just three more games with a start time after 10 ET. After this, they head to Colorado to take on the last-place Rockies. All of those games start before 9.
Game 1: Tuesday, August 27, 10:10 pm — MASN2
LHP Cole Irvin (6-5, 4.82 ERA) vs. RHP Jack Flaherty (10-5, 3.00 ERA)
Cole Irvin is not the starter you want out there, but maybe he’s the starter you need? No, I’m just saying that. His last time out, he was actually quite passable, filling in for a sore Zach Eflin with 4.1 innings of two-run baseball. But he had an ERA of 9.00 in July. You never quite know what you’re going to get with Irvin: he’s either tricky to time up or hittable. I know which we’re hoping for.
I kind of hate the Jack Flaherty revival tour. Not because I have strong feelings against the man or anything, but I feel like it makes the Orioles look foolish for not getting anything out of him. Flaherty struggled mightily with conditioning in 2023, half of which he spent as an Oriole, but he was was the Dodgers’ big trade deadline this year after a return to health helped him put up big numbers with the Tigers. His fastball has certainly gained some life, which is helping him put up a career-best 6.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Game 2: Wednesday, August 28, 10:10 pm — MASN2, MLBN
RHP Corbin Burnes (12-6, 3.28 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Buehler (1-4, 6.09 ERA)
The overall numbers are still good, but lately I’m terrified of what we’re going to see when Corbin Burnes takes the mound. It clearly is Camden Chat’s fault, because a bunch of us kept writing that Burnes was a machine. Well he was, after 18 starts. But in his last seven games, he’s 3-2 with a very un-Burnes-like 5.75 ERA. He’s an ace so I know he can right himself, but it’s been tough to watch.
Walker Buehler missed most of 2022 and all of last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time. It’s been a big struggle since he’s returned, with mechanics issues plaguing him and also a hip injury. When he was at his best, he was commanding his four-seamer and mixing in three secondary pitches. For now, he’s still searching for a return to form.
Game 3: Thursday, August 29, 10:10 pm — MASN
LHP Cade Povich (1-6, 6.10 ERA) vs. TBD (probably Bobby Miller (1-3, 7.49 ERA)
We’re still trying to figure out what the Orioles have in Cade Povich. The young lefty’s numbers don’t sound very good but he’s shown potential, notably during a 6.1-inning start against Boston where he allowed just six hits and two runs two turns ago. Last week, he allowed five runs in five innings against Houston. Not ideal, but they are a good-hitting team. Well, so are the Dodgers. Sigh.
The Dodgers haven’t announced their Game 3 starter as of this writing but next up in order would be 25-year-old Bobby Miller. A Round 1 draft pick in 2020 for LA, Miller is a flamethrower (41.3% of his pitches) who mixes in a changeup, curveball, sinker and slider. His last time out he delivered a quality start, with three earned runs allowed over six innings in a win over the Rays. But he’s been very inconsistent, as that bloated ERA suggests. He’s got a high BABIP of .348 and a poor strikeout-to-watch ratio, indicating bad batted-ball luck but also ongoing struggles with command. Good-hitting teams have pummeled the youngster so far. Are the Orioles a good-hitting team? I don’t remember anymore.