The Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff had a rough day Thursday at Camelback Ranch, as they gave up 19 hits in a 14-8 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Los Angeles looks to bounce back Friday as they travel to Scottsdale to take on the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks, with top prospect Walker Buehler making his first start of the spring.
Buehler, who was recently sent back to Minor League camp as he will likely begin the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City to help limit his innings, has thrown in one Cactus League game so far this spring.
He looked as dominant as ever, tossing two shutout innings while striking out five against the Chicago Cubs. He struck out the side in the ninth inning after allowing a leadoff single.
“We expect him to throw the baseball well. He’s got a good lineup opposing him today,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game of Buehler, who is expected to throw two innings and around 40 pitches.
Opposing Buehler for the Diamondbacks is right-hander Matt Koch. The 27-year-old has appeared in four games (two starts), giving up eight hits and three runs (two earned) in 8.1 innings (2.16 ERA) so far this spring.
In 12 Minor League starts last year Koch did not fair as well, going 3-2 with a 7.71 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in 56 innings.
In addition to Buehler starting, there’s another first for the Dodgers as Corey Seager plays shortstop in a Cactus League game for the first time this spring. Seager is taking things slowly to ensure that the elbow injury he dealt with for much of the 2017 season is 100 percent.
He played defense in a ‘B’ game on Wednesday and checked off all the boxes, and hit a home run as a designated hitter in the loss to the Royals.
Although the Dodgers lineup resembles what could be seen on Opening Day and during the regular season, Roberts didn’t put much stock in it. “I wrote it down and I said, ‘That’s a good looking lineup. I like our chances,'” he said.
“That’s kind of the dynamic with this ballclub. You get Corey back playing with us, which is great obviously, but just the versatility, very good players. How we’re going to use these guys and keep everybody relevant, that’s a challenge that we have, and that’s a good thing.
“There’s still evaluation going on. I love the way that the guys are playing, they’re competing. It’s just making our decisions a lot tougher.”
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Chris Taylor
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
LF: Matt Kemp
RF: Yasiel Puig
2B: Logan Forsythe
C: Austin Barnes
DH: Kyle Farmer
Diamondbacks lineup:
LF: David Peralta
CF: A.J. Pollock
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
3B: Jake Lamb
RF: Steven Souza Jr.
DH: Alex Avila
SS: Ketel Marte
C: John Ryan Murphy
2B: Kristopher Negron
