With one game behind them in the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks will unleash dueling surprises when the teams meet again on Friday night.
A pair of surprise No. 2 starters will clash when the Dodgers send Emmet Sheehan to the mound against fellow right-hander Ryne Nelson of the Diamondbacks.
In Thursday’s season opener, Andy Pages and Will Smith each hit a home run as the Dodgers rallied for an 8-2 victory. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up two runs on five hits over six innings, with six strikeouts and no walks.
Los Angeles trailed 2-0, then scored four runs in the fifth inning and four in the seventh.
“When you face a lineup like ours, it certainly has to be taxing (for pitchers) when you feel like you have to be perfect,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “… If we can be disciplined, we should be able to put up big numbers.”
Sheehan has a tough act to follow for the two-time defending World Series champions. He was the last Dodgers pitcher to earn a starting spot this spring, but instead of being fifth in the pecking order, he was shuffled up to No. 2.
Roberts pushed right-handed pitcher Shohei Ohtani to the back of the rotation after Ohtani made two spring starts following his World Baseball Classic duty for Team Japan. Right-hander Roki Sasaki has struggled and will take over the No. 4 spot.
Right-hander Tyler Glasnow was moved to the No. 3 spot in the hopes he can preserve the bullpen in advance of a Sasaki start when relievers could be pressed into service.
Sheehan’s first start will come after he returned from Tommy John surgery last season and went 6-3 with a 2.82 ERA in 15 appearances (12 starts). In three spring starts, he had a 5.91 ERA.
“I think it was a couple things, but just timing of how things synced up,” said Sheehan, who will face the Diamondbacks in a regular-season game for the first time. “I think we’re in a better spot now, for sure.”
Nelson, who was 7-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 33 appearances (23 starts) last season, was moved into the No. 2 spot of the rotation after right-hander Brandon Pfaadt was shuffled to the fifth spot. Merrill Kelly (back) is on the injured list.
“I’m really proud of myself for how I handled the steps to get here,” Nelson said to Arizona’s 12News. “I handled it with grace and a team mindset. … Never feeling sorry for myself or rooting against teammates. I always wanted to be a good teammate and do the best I could to improve myself.”
After Corbin Burnes was lost to Tommy John surgery last season, Nelson moved into the rotation and finished with an impressive 3.16 ERA in his 23 starts. He is 2-0 with a 2.06 ERA in seven career appearances (four starts) vs. the Dodgers.
“The Dodgers are going to pound the baseball to score runs. We’ve got to save runs,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “And I think there’s a good balance there that makes us a good baseball team.”
That balance showed when Geraldo Perdomo hit a two-run home run Thursday for a 2-0 lead. Zac Gallen was in control through four innings before being charged with four runs without getting an out in the fifth.
–Field Level Media
