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Series Preview: Phillies Look to Upset NL West-Leading Dodgers

Following their 2-1 series win against the Seattle Mariners, the Philadelphia Phillies travel to California to face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Author:
Declan Harris
May 12, 2022 12:00 PM EDT

The Philadelphia Phillies continue their first West Coast trip as they face off against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers for a four-game series.

The Phillies fly south from Seattle where they took a 2-1 series win over the Seattle Mariners—a series that saw the revival of their offense, scoring 17 runs over three games, fueled mainly by Jean Segura, Nick Castellanos, and Rhys Hoskins. The former hit a grand slam to close out the series on Wednesday.

On the other side of the ticket, the Dodgers are coming off of an uncharacteristic series loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite being held to only four hits in the first game of their series, Los Angeles went on a rampage during Tuesday's game scoring 11 runs, mainly off the bats of Justin Turner and Edwin Rios.

Following their elimination in the 2021 NLCS, Los Angeles saw areas for improvement within their lineup. One of those improvements culminated in the pursuit and signing of former Atlanta Braves star Freddie Freeman. Since making his move to the City of Angels, Freeman has been having a biblical year, slashing .315/.402/.509.

Apart from Freeman, the Dodgers also resigned three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and 2014 NL MVP Clayton Kershaw to a one-year contract. Despite penning a new deal, Kershaw has been the same on the mound: dominant, going 4-0 with an ERA of 1.80 coming into the series.

Their offseason signings are working as intended with the Dodgers coming into the series sitting high with a 20-9 record, 1.5 games clear of the San Diego Padres, looking to grow their lead.

Let's take a look at the pitching match-ups for this series:

Game One:

Phillies Starter: Zack Wheeler (1-3, 4.10)

Dodgers Starter: Tyler Anderson (3-0, 2.78)

Wheeler will make his return from the 10-Day COVID-19 IL on Thursday, which will be his first appearance since May 4, when he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers. Wheeler will look to improve his 2-2 record against the Dodgers, a team that has moderate success against him, batting .241/.298/.429, earning him an ERA of 4.66.

Anderson takes the mound on Thursday looking to continue his hot streak on the mound, coming off of a seven strikeout performance against the Chicago Cubs. In his career, Anderson is 2-1 against the Phillies with his most recent appearance being in 2018 when he was with the Colorado Rockies.

First Pitch: Thursday, 10:10 P.M. EST

Game Two:

Phillies Starter: Kyle Gibson (3-1, 2.94)

Dodgers Starter: Clayton Kershaw (4-0, 1.80)

Gibson looks to grab his first win over the Dodgers, one of eight teams that he hasn't been able to win against in his decade-long career. In his last time out, Gibson hurled six innings of solid ball, allowing six hits, and two runs, yet still going the distance for the Philadelphia as they took down the New York Mets.

As touched on earlier, Kershaw has been nothing short of perfect this season. Historically, however, the Phillies are one of two teams in which Kershaw has a losing record (4-6), a stat he is surely keen on changing. Kershaw's most recent outing against the Cubs was a quiet one, going seven innings deep, allowing five hits, and no runs.

First Pitch: Friday, 10:10 P.M. EST

Game Three:

Phillies Starter: Ranger Suárez (3-1, 3.69)

Dodgers Starter: Walker Buehler (4-1, 1.69)

Suárez opened Philadelphia's road trip against the Mariners, giving an admirable six innings of shutout baseball with seven strikeouts, which yielded him his third win of the season. In his previous outings against Los Angeles, Suárez has found moderate success against them with a 2-1 record and a 2.35 ERA.

Gunning for his fifth win of the season, Buehler will get the start on Saturday, following his seven-inning outing against the Cubs, a performance that helped grind his ERA down to 1.96. However, doing this against Philadelphia could prove difficult. One could say that Buehler has had no days off against the Phillies, who hold him to a 1-1 record across three appearances with a 5.40 ERA, the highest against any other team in MLB.

First Pitch: Saturday, 10:10 P.M. EST

Game Four:

Phillies Starter: Aaron Nola (1-4, 3.83)

Dodgers Starter: Julio Urías (2-2, 2.10)

Nola takes the mound on Sunday as he looks to bounce back from his shaky five-inning appearance in Seattle on Tuesday when he allowed five runs. Luckily for Nola, the Dodgers haven't found much success against him, as they have only bat .182/.243/.374 against Nola.

Urías will be looking to clear his name following his 11-hit outing against the Pirates on Monday, which is not what he looked like last season when he won a league-leading 20 wins across 32 starts. Urías has had success against Philadelphia in the past, with two wins under his belt, so he'll be looking to add a third on Sunday.

First Pitch: Sunday, 4:10 P.M. EST

Players to Watch:

Rhys Hoskins:

Hoskins finds himself as one of the players to watch due to his recent offensive streak, which culminated in seven RBIs in the Mariners series. Granted Dodger Stadium isn't exactly where Rhys calls home, hitting only .143/.200/.357 at the Blue's home ground. Hopefully, his recent offensive fire can continue into the next four games.

Freddie Freeman:

Freeman is the Dodger to watch for the series because this will be the first time the two sides meet following his departure from the NL East. During his time in the East, he made a living against the Phillies slugging .298/.398/.495 with 30 home runs and 120 RBI. This, mixed with his .304/.369/.524 performance at Dodger Stadium, may indicate that he could be a pain for the Philadelphia pitching staff throughout the following four games.