San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers -140
Game Total: 7.5
This Saturday night will be on FOX and we will see long-time rivals square off in what should be a close game. We have Madison Bumgarner making only his third start of the year after starting the season on the DL. He will be up against a Dodgers team who have really turned around their slow start to the year and now sit just a few games back in the NL West.
Game Play Predictions
San Francisco Giants
- The Giants will be facing Alex Wood tonight, who they have faced two times this season. In those games, Wood racked up a stat line of 14 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 9 SO, and 4 ER.
- The Giants as a team have a slash line of .260/.321/.413. All of which are in the top 12 for the league.
- San Francisco has a team wOBA of .318 against left-handed pitchers, which is also 12th best in the league.
- Brandon Belt will be making his first start off the DL. He has been out since June 1st, and will now be staring down a lefty vs. lefty matchup. Not the ideal spots, since Wood is only giving up a .279 wOBA to lefties this season.
- The Giants have a 23.1% strikeout rate vs left-handed pitchers this season, which is 11th-worst in the league. But they have hit 27 home runs off of lefties, which is sixth-most.
Players to Watch
Andrew McCutchen has home runs in two of his last three games, and has seven multi-hit games over his last ten outings. He has a .359 wOBA and a .216 ISO vs LHP this season.- Madison Bumgarner has allowed six earned runs in his 11 innings of work this season, but comes into this game giving up only a .225 AVG to the Dodgers current roster. He has 66 strikeouts in 253 career at-bats vs. these hitters.
- Brandon Crawford has two career home runs in 15 at-bats vs. Alex Wood, along with having a .550 wOBA. The sample size is small, but he clearly sees something with his pitching which allows him to get the best of Wood.
Los Angeles Dodgers
- The Dodgers have a team slash line sitting at .244/.323/.428. The latter two stats are both in the top 10 for the league this year.
- The Dodgers pitching staff comes in with a 3.56 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and a .238 BAA. All of which are in the top 10 for the league.
- They are 10-2 this month and have scored three or more runs in every single game this month.
- The Dodgers have a 22.7% strikeout rate vs. left-handed pitchers this season, along with having a team wOBA sitting at .317
Players to Watch
Cody Bellinger will be making his first start after missing the last two games. This won’t be the easiest spot for him, as he comes in with a 30% strikeout rate vs. LHP this season.- Kiki Hernandez is one of the only players to have any real success off of Bumgarner. Hernandez has three home runs in 30 career at-bats, along with a .467 AVG.
- Matt Kemp is on the other end of the spectrum compared to Hernandez. Kemp has 59 at-bats vs. Bumgarner with a .186 AVG, along with 14 strikeouts.