Coming off an Opening Day win, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to remain undefeated to begin the 2023 season with another matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Dustin May takes the ball for his first start of 2023, and just his seventh since returning from Tommy John surgery. May struggled in his first six games back at the end of 2022, going 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 29 strikeouts and 14 walks in 30 innings.
Prior to his injury, May was looking like another ace for the Dodgers, posting a 2.74 ERA in his five starts during the 2021 season. The Dodgers are hopeful he can get back to that point, but it will likely take some time, and they will be cautious with his innings.
May owns a career 3.26 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 140 strikeouts over 143.2 innings.
The Diamondbacks counter with Merrill Kelly, who helped Team USA win the silver medal in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The 34-year-old is coming off a strong season where he pitched 200.1 innings with a 3.37 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 177 strikeouts and 61 walks.
Kelly 34-year-old is a prototypical innings-eater who is unlikely to provide ace-like results often, but he generally does more than enough to keep his team in the game. He owns a career 3.96 ERA in 573 innings since joining the Diamondbacks in 2019.
The Dodgers lineup remains the exact same from the season opener, while the Diamondbacks have made some changes, likely due to facing a right-hander rather than a southpaw. The most notable change is Alex Thomas starting in place of Kyle Lewis, and Josh Rojas and Geraldo Perdomo are getting starts over Evan Longoria and Nick Ahmed.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
C: Will Smith
3B: Max Muncy
DH: J.D. Martinez
LF: David Peralta
2B: Miguel Vargas
CF: James Outman
SS: Miguel Rojas
Diamondbacks lineup
3B: Josh Rojas
2B: Ketel Marte
DH: Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
1B: Christian Walker
LF: Corbin Carroll
C: Gabriel Moreno
RF: Jake McCarthy
CF: Alek Thomas
SS: Geraldo Perdomo
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