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The Los Angeles Dodgers are in last place in the National League West with a 22-30 record despite having a $216 million payroll.
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That doesn't mean they'll be there for long, even with Matt Kemp hitting the 15-day disabled list. That's because of the efforts of the top-portion of the Dodgers' starting rotation, namely Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Kershaw's performance is really nothing out of the ordinary for him. The 25-year-old lefty continues to be one of the hardest hurlers in baseball to hit; he has allowed 5.5 hits and 0.4 home runs per nine innings, figures that are more sustainable than you think. In addition, he's dominating hitters to the tune 8.6 strikeouts and 2.4 walks per nine innings -- numbers that could actually improve given his history. That's scary.
A few years ago, Kershaw was drawing comparisons to Sandy Koufax. I thought people were insane for that. Now, I'm not so sure they're not spot-on. That's how good this dude is.
Ryu is a different story. He was a successful pitcher in the Korean Baseball Organization -- particularly in 2010, when he went 16-4 with a 1.82 ERA and posted a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.16. However, reports of his velocity and stuff this spring were not good, so it has been fairly surprising to see Ryu post the type of numbers he has through 11 big-league starts.
Kershaw hasn't faced the Rockies this year, but Ryu turned in one of his best starts of the season against Colorado, tossing six innings of two-run ball while punching out 12 batters in a 6-2 win on April 30.
Zack Greinke is the forgotten third guy in the Dodgers' trio of very good starters. Greinke missed more than a month with a broken collarbone suffered in a brawl with Carlos Quentin and the San Diego Padres, and hasn't found his footing in his last couple of starts. Greinke allowed five runs on nine hits to the Brewers (a woeful team with a solid offense) on May 21 and was lit up by the Angels for six runs on 10 hits six days later. Still, this is a guy who dominated the NL in the season and a half in which he competed against it, and a return to form should be expected.
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Adrian Gonzalez is the Dodgers' biggest threat offensively, arguably even with a healthy Matt Kemp. Gonzalez is among the NL leaders in most offensive categories and boasts a .328/.381/.511 line, good for a 149 OPS+.
Nick Punto is still proving that he was the centerpiece of the big trade last year by posting a 122 OPS+ off the bench. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Red Sox fans.
For more on Nick Punto, the Dodgers' offense and the team in general, be sure to check out Eric Stephen's excellent work at True Blue LA.
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Probable pitchers
Game 1: Friday, May 31 at 6:40 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports)
Clayton Kershaw (5-3, 1.68 ERA) vs. Jon Garland (3-6, 5.53 ERA)
Game 2: Saturday, June 1 at 2:10 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports)
Zack Greinke (2-1, 4.38) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (3-3, 3.90)
Game 3: Sunday, June 2 at 2:10 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports)
Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-2, 2.89) vs. Jorge De La Rosa (6-3, 3.16)
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