The book was out on the Los Angeles Dodgers for much of last season. Throw a left-handed pitcher at their lineup and watch it struggle. The Dodgers ranked last in the Majors in 2016 with a .213 batting average, .622 on-base plus slugging percentage, .275 wOBA and 72 wRC+ against southpaws.
Their first extensive test of the 2017 season — Tuesday against San Diego Padres’ lefty Clayton Richard — yielded much of the same. Richard scattered five hits and had five strikeouts over eight shutout innings. He gave way to Brand Hand, another lefty, who threw a perfect ninth inning.
As the Dodgers embark on a six-game road trip, split evenly with matchups against the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs, four left-handed starters await them. The first comes Friday in the form of Rockies rookie Kyle Freeland.
Tyler Anderson gets the ball on Sunday, and now Cubs ace Jon Lester on Monday. That’s a result of Joe Maddon making a swap in his rotation that now has Jake Arrieta pitching Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Cubs will raise their World Series banner during a pregame ceremony Monday. The Dodgers’ road trip concludes at Wrigley Field on Wednesday with a final matchup against a left-hander in former teammate Brett Anderson.
When informed of Maddon’s change, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was not surprised. “I get it,” he said. “I guess it’s up to us to go out there and change the narrative. We’re going to have our opportunities.”
Tyler Anderson was 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA in three starts against the Dodgers last season. Lester went 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two starts; one outing was a complete-game effort at home.
Lester then allowed a combined two runs on nine hits and had nine strikeouts in 13 innings while twice facing the Dodgers during the 2016 National League Championship Series (Games 1 and 5).
Following the Dodgers’ subpar performance against Richard, Roberts dismissed any concern over last season’s struggles against lefties carrying into 2017. “This year we have a completely different mindset,” he said.
The optimism is tied the additions of Logan Forsythe and Franklin Gutierrez, and the expectation of healthy and bounce-back seasons from Kiké Hernandez, Yasiel Puig, Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke.
Entering Friday, the Dodgers as a team are hitting .179/.238/.282 with one double, one home run and two RBI in 39 at-bats against left-handed pitching.
