The Dodgers are undefeated, and they’ll travel to a place in which they haven’t won since 2023. A year ago, this club took on the Phillies for a three-game set and ran into the three-headed monster that is Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Christopher Sánchez, getting swept by the Phils.
One pitcher who was not present in that series and will get to pitch in Citizens Bank Park for the first time in his career is the right-hander Yoshinbou Yamamoto. The Dodgers’ starter will be going up against Jesus Luzárdo for the series opener on Friday.
What Yamamoto and Luzardo have in common is the fact that they’re coming off outstanding double-digit strikeout performances. Yamamoto punched out 10 Tigers in five innings of work as the Dodgers won that game 8-5. Luzardo also didn’t go deep in his outing but managed to strike out 11 Nationals hitters on his way to a win last weekend.
This sort of symmetry is fitting for a rare matchup in which a team can feasibly go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers in star power. The Braves had a bit of that chance, but in the middle of a huge slump to start the season, that series was nowhere near as competitive as plenty might’ve hoped before the start of the regular year.
The Phillies’ potential ability to match up well with the Dodgers is enhanced by the fact that Los Angeles will be without one of its star players. Freddie Freeman was placed on the injured list on Thursday with a sprained right ankle.
However, the Dodgers already dealt with Freeman’s absence for a significant portion of this season, as the first baseman missed the Tokyo Series and also the meetup with his former team. Kiké Hernández has been the chosen man to fill in at first, and although he has kind of embodied the whole power approach of a first baseman with a couple of bombs, the overall numbers need improving. It’s super early, though.
If anything, it is unfortunate that a series between two of, if not the strongest teams of the National League over the past three seasons comes at this stage before everyone has had a chance to settle in.
The last pitch of the Braves series was a Shohei Ohtani home run, and how fitting that he will now travel to one of the two major league parks he has hit in but never homered (the other one is Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati). Ohtani has a great average at Citizens Bank Park, having gone 10 for 33 (.303/.410/.364) in nine career games there, but no bombs. Interestingly enough, Ohtani doesn’t have a nice batting line against former Oakland A’s starter Jesús Luzardo, with one hit in seven at-bats, but that one hit was a home run.
Friday game info
- Teams: Dodgers at Phillies
- Stadium: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
- Start time: 3:45 p.m. PT
- TV: Apple TV+
- Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)
