#BeatLA Lineups and Pre-Gamer: Home Cooking

The last series the Giants won was at home against an NL West club (Padres) so perhaps it’s time the Giants started doing that again, and with the Dodgers sweeping the Giants the last time around at Chavez Ravine with the bonus of the Dodgers not being in last anymore while the Giants are, now would be a good time for the Giants to change course. Heck, three weeks ago was a great time for the Giants to change course, but here they are, dwellers of the cellar of the Western Division in the NL. On to tonight’s game, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly has thrown this out for Friday:

Jul 4, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder

(66) during the game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Whenever I look at a Dodger lineup card, I always look for A.J. Ellis. He is batting seventh, which with that bulk in the middle of the lineup, I can understand. However, his non-brother Mark Ellis, has a .307 on base percentage. AJ has a .356 OBP clip going. Nearly fifty points different, but you won’t see Giants fans complaining about the obsession with an opponent putting a higher OBP guy lower than he should be. Maybe the second baseman breaks out for a great game tonight, who knows. Carl Crawford has finished his rehab and will be available off the bench tonight and should be starting tomorrow against the lefty while Andre Ethier sits. This four outfielder composition is bound to be a wonderful drama that makes a couple people unhappy (barring injury).

Here’s what Bruce Bochy has written down for tonight:

Marco Scutaro‘s in, Cole Gillespie‘s batting ahead of Brandon Crawford, and the Giants don’t have any great options for the top of the lineup if you like platoons. Andres Torres has a .312 OBP, which is seventh among the healthy regulars. It’s not lost on anybody that’s watched the Giants lately that even if one more hitter steps up, the Giants could possibly win a game.

Hyun-jin Ryu has an 80.9% left on base rate, and that is Top 10 in the Majors for starting pitchers, and he is still really using that fastball-slider combo to lefties and fastball-change combo to RHH. You’ll see his third and fourth choice pitches for lefties and righties used as well, but he’s had success with those select pitches in his rookie year. Lefties should just sit dead red against Ryu when they’re ahead.

Ryu has faced the Giants three times and has gone at least six innings each time, while surrendering at least eight hits each time. The Giants can see him, but they haven’t been cashing in yet. Perhaps they’ll have picked up on something they can use this time around.

Matt Cain will use the fourseam fastball-slider-change combo to LHH and 4-seam FB-slider-curve group with RHH. His last two home starts against Miami and San Diego he allowed a total of three home runs, so he isn’t quite done giving up the long ball, but he went to Denver and pitched eight great innings (no homers allowed, either) to keep the Giants in the game he last pitched.

Other news from the wild world of the Giants, and some of it focuses on the roster moves that were made today:

Caught us by complete surprise, too, Cole. We’ll hope that this one works out spectacularly. On to Santiago Casilla:

That should make Giants fans feel better about his struggles before he went out and that he should be right back in it when he gets back.

The Giants begin their six-game homestand and three-game series against the Dodgers tonight at 7:15PM PST.