The Los Angeles Dodgers travel to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Sunday to take on the Colorado Rockies for the first of two spring matchups.
Hyun-Jin Ryu gets the nod and makes his 2018 Spring Training debut. He was expected to take the mound on the final day of February, but illness derailed those plans. Ryu started in a simulated environment last week, facing 11 batters and allowing one run across 2.2 innings.
After the outing, he revealed plans to increase the spin rate on his curveball during the spring.
Last season, Ryu went 5-9 with a 3.77 ERA, 4.74 FIP and 1.37 WHIP in 25 games (24 starts). All things considered, it was a successful campaign as Ryu logged over 100 innings for the first time since 2014.
Manny Bañuelos, Wilmer Font and Pat Venditte are among the Dodgers relievers expected to back Ryu. He’s supported by a lineup that mirrors what could be seen come the regular season.
Chris Taylor is leading off and following him are Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger and Matt Kemp, among others.
That figures to pose a challenge to German Marquez, who is making his third start of the spring. In his last contest against the Seattle Mariners, Marquez yielded just one run and three hits with four strikeouts over five innings.
All-in-all, Marquez has posted an excellent 1.80 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and .211 opponents’ batting average in five innings, with six strikeouts to one walk.
The Rockies lineup has regulars in Charlie Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado, plus several others.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Chris Taylor
DH: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
LF: Matt Kemp
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Yasmani Grandal
SS: Kiké Hernandez
2B: Jake Peter
Rockies lineup:
CF: Charlie Blackmon
2B: DJ LeMahieu
3B: Nolan Arenado
SS: Trevor Story
1B: Ian Desmond
LF: Gerardo Parra
C: Chris Iannetta
RF: David Dahl
DH: Noel Cuevas
