It’s a night of firsts as the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park in a game that will see Corey Seager make his 2019 debut and Dustin May take the mound for his first Cactus League start.
Seager to this point has been limited to Minor League games on the backfields at Camelback Ranch. He was not yet throwing across the diamond or swinging a bat at the outset of Spring Training, but steadily built up to doing so over the past month.
Although Seager only had one ball hit to him while playing shortstop in the aforementioned Minor League games, he was pleased with at least being able to get on his feet and move around some. It’s unclear how many Cactus League games Seager will play in, but he’s due to appear in each of the three contests during the exhibition Freeway Series.
While May is making his first start, the right-hander has impressed in three relief appearances thus far. May has gone 1-0 and collected five strikeouts over six scoreless innings in those outings.
He replaced previous probable Julio Urias, who now is scheduled to pitch out of the bullpen. The change falls in line with the Dodgers considering Urias for a role out of the bullpen in light of Tony Cingrani being shut down.
Urias has allowed just one run on two hits while striking out nine batters in nine innings across four starts. Urias logged three scoreless innings in each of his past two starts.
Fresh off hitting his second home run of the spring, A.J. Pollock is moved back into the leadoff spot. The Dodgers lineup also includes expected regulars Justin Turner, Kiké Hernandez and Cody Bellinger.
They’ll face Cole Hamels, who is 2-0 but sporting a 5.00 ERA in three Cactus League starts this year.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: A.J. Pollock
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Corey Seager
2B: Kiké Hernández
RF: Cody Bellinger
LF: Christ Taylor
C: Austin Barnes
1B: Edwin Rios
P: Dustin May
Cubs lineup:
2B: Ben Zobrist
3B: Kris Bryant
1B: Anthony Rizzo
SS: Javier Baez
LF: Kyle Schwarber
C: Willson Contreras
CF: Jason Heyward
P: Cole Hamels
RF: Ian Happ
