After a long wait due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Los Angeles Dodgers are finally taking the field to begin the 2020 season on Thursday night, hosting the rival San Francisco Giants in the first of a four-game series.
As is normally the case on Opening Day, Clayton Kershaw was expected to get the start for the Dodgers. He has started eight of the last nine openers for L.A., with them going 7-1 in those games.
He was scratched just hours before first pitched though, being placed on the 10-day injured list due to back stiffness. Dustin May was recalled and is getting the start against the Giants, becoming the first Dodgers rookie to start on Opening Day since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
The 22-year-old appeared in 14 games (four starts) for the Dodgers last season and went 2-3 with a 3.63 ERA, 2.90 FIP and 1.10 WHIP while striking out 32 compared to just five walks in 34.2 innings in his first taste of big-league action. Included in that was two relief appearances against the Giants in which he tossed two scoreless innings.
On paper, he isn’t facing too tough of a Giants lineup this time around as they will be without Buster Posey for the 2020 season after he decided to opt-out due to coronavirus concerns.
Getting the start on the mound for the Giants is veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto, who was limited to four starts last season coming off Tommy John surgery. He went 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA, 5.71 FIP and 1.25 WHIP while striking out 13 and walking nine in 16 innings in 2019.
Cueto has had mixed results against the Dodgers in his career, going 7-9 with a 3.53 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with 105 strikeouts and 31 walks in 119.2 innings across 20 starts. He is now 34 years of age and on the back-half of his career though, so many of his successful starts against L.A. came when he was younger and a two-time All-Star.
He is facing the challenge of pitching to perhaps the best lineup in all of baseball, which now features a former MVP in Mookie Betts at the top after he was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox.
It was unclear if Betts would ever play a game for the Dodgers after the pandemic hit, although he recently inked a 12-year extension to remain with the club so this is the first of thousands of games playing right field in L.A. for him.
Perhaps the only minor surprises in the Dodgers’ lineup is that Kiké Hernandez is playing second base over Chris Taylor, and Austin Barnes is catching instead of Will Smith. Both Taylor and Smith will see plenty of playing time this season though, so it is not cause for concern.
The Dodgers’ Opening Night game is a part of a doubleheader televised on ESPN, with the first game being the Washington Nationals hosting the New York Yankees. The games can also be streamed online on the ESPN app.
Dodgers lineup
1B: Max Muncy
RF: Mookie Betts
CF: Cody Bellinger
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Corey Seager
2B: Kiké Hernandez
LF: Joc Pederson
DH: AJ Pollock
C: Austin Barnes
Giants lineup
CF: Mike Yastrzemski
3B: Wilmer Flores
1B: Pablo Sandoval
LF: Alex Dickerson
DH: Hunter Pence
RF: Joe McCarthy
2B: Mauricio Dubón
SS: Brandon Crawford
C: Tyler Heineman
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