Fresh off their first off day of Spring Training, the Los Angeles Dodgers return to the field for a matchup with the Colorado Rockies at Camelback Ranch for a 7:05 p.m. first pitch. Wednesday’s game is their third at night this year.
While the Dodgers appear to have settled on a starting rotation order of Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu, the day off brings about some adjustment. Wood faced Minor Leaguers over five innings during the afternoon, leaving Ross Stripling to pitch against the Rockies.
The start is Stripling’s second of the spring, but first since he debuted Feb. 24. Overall, the Cactus League game is Stripling’s fourth.
He enters having allowed just one run — on a homer — and two hits in five innings of work. Stripling has five strikeouts against zero walks in that span. Though he’s being stretched out as a starter, the Dodgers view the right-hander as a reliever come the regular season.
The Rockies counter with Jon Gray, who’s yet to pitch to the standard he set last season. The 26-year-old is coming off a particularly rough outing that saw him allow six runs on six hits, including two home runs, in just 3.1 innings pitched against the Cleveland Indians.
Gray went 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers last season. He’ll see some of the same batters in Wednesday’s lineup. Although there was some thought to Corey Seager making his 2018 Cactus League debut at shortstop, he instead played in a ‘B’ game.
Thus, Kiké Hernandez receives another opportunity up the middle. Regulars Cody Bellinger, Logan Forsythe, Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor and Justin Turner are also in the lineup. The Dodgers have begun forgoing a designated hitter, giving Stripling his first opportunity to bat.
Los Angeles is but a few days removed from hanging 13 runs on 17 hits in a rout of Colorado. Matt Kemp added to his strong showing this spring by going 3-for-3 with a team-leading fourth home run.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Chris Taylor
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
LF: Matt Kemp
RF: Yasiel Puig
2B: Logan Forsythe
C: Austin Barnes
SS: Kiké Hernandez
P: Ross Stripling
Rockies lineup:
CF: Raimel Tapia
LF: Gerardo Parra
SS: Trevor Story
RF: David Dahl
3B: Ryan McMahon
1B: Jordan Patterson
C: Tony Wolters
2B: Garrett Hampson
P: Jon Gray
