Giants-Dodgers Series Preview – June 2024: LA’s final trip to SF (in the regular season)

Word is that there is a rivalry between both teams. The late, great Willie Mays used to be involved with those teams, and so on this final trip from LA to SF this season, expect to remember what once was. It’s really odd that this is the Dodgers’ last regular season visit. The even schedule is weird, wild. They should have a home and away game in September at least!

Instead, we just have to expect these two teams to meet again in the postseason. Is that so far-fetched? Each has a chance to knock off the dominant Dodgers in the postseason. A check swing that didn’t happen knocked the Giants out of contention in 2021, but maybe their third Wild Card Frankenteam can shock the world with 79 wins, just like the Arizona Diamondbacks did last season when they knocked off the 100 win Dodgers.

And that is what we hope, isn’t it? That the San Francisco Giants will one day beat the Los Angeles Dodgers if Really counts. So this weekend doesn’t matter. Not really. They’re two franchises with different goals, and in between us fans can decide whether we enjoy some nice innings under 27 or maybe even a 3-point win… Logan Webb won his last start against them, after all, and he’ll open the series tonight.

Most of all, we dream of the future that may not be so far away. If the Giants make the playoffs by some unpredictable bit of luck, these two teams could face off! And because it’s the playoffs – where anything can happen, but usually a 100-win team gets knocked out by a struggling wild card – maybe the Giants can be the 2003 Marlins to the 2003 Dodgers Giants. So while the Dodgers beat up our beloved team, we’ll probably mutter, “Just wait until the playoffs, you bums!” But maybe all is not so hopeless after all?

Hey, look at that! Mookie Betts and Max Muncy are on the injured list. So are Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler. Those are all thorns in the side of the San Francisco Giants whenever they face the Los Angeles Dodgers. I’m not happy they’re hurt, but there is some relief that that firepower won’t be aimed at my favorite team for a few days.

But then there’s Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and the rest of the roster, who, if they’re not thorns, are broadswords cutting the Giants to pieces diagonally. Nobody watches this series to judge where the Giants stand compared to the best teams in the sport. We do it out of habit. The Dodgers are a much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much better team than the Giants — and that’s on purpose! The Giants are aiming for 83 wins and a chance at the third wild card. The Dodgers have their eyes on global dominance.

The Giants could play harder, Because this is the last time the Dodgers will play in San Francisco… in the regular season. Usually, this final visit of the season ends in an embarrassing sweep. Maybe that won’t happen this time! The Dodgers haven’t lost a series at Oracle Park since June 2022 and have already won 5 of the 6 meetings The season, but even in yesterday’s defeat the Giants cut a better figure at home.

Luis Matos has batted 7-for-17 (.412) since returning on June 22. Taylor Rogers and Erik Miller have combined for just 7 runs (5 earned), 21 strikeouts and 8 walks in 22.1 innings pitched this month. I know it’s a bit of a stretch to pair the two lefties like that, but they’ll be key pieces in the bullpen this series. Heliot Ramos seems to have hit a little weak (7-for-42 in his last 10 games, with 12 strikeouts against 4 walks), but he’s had some solid at-bats and seems to be a focused player rather than just a free swinger (even if he swings wildly on every slider). After slightly criticizing the bullpen the other day, the team now seems to have a bit of a handle on how to handle the workload in the near future.

The Giants are in as good shape as they can possibly be at this point in the season given their offseason plans, and while they’re facing a much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much better team, the Dodgers are losing a little oil in terms of their unexpected injuries alone.

Although only two Teams with a winning record this month (Yankees & Royals) are “only” 15-8. In the last five seasons, the Dodgers have lost fewer than 10 games in a month. The Dodgers have lost fewer than 10 games in a month many, many times in the last few seasons (11 months, actually), but they haven’t done so yet this season. We’ll find out if that’s good news for the Giants.

Probably not, but hope never hurts.

Series details

WHO: San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
When: Friday (7:15 p.m. PT), Saturday (4:15 p.m. PT), Sunday (1:05 ​​p.m. PT)
National broadcasts: Fox (Saturday)

Expected starters
Friday: Landon Knack vs. Logan Webb
Saturday: Tyler Glasnow vs. TBD
Sunday: James Paxton vs. to be announced

Where they stand

Dodgers, 51-31 (1st in NL West), 409 RS / 289 RA | Last 10 games: 8-2
Giants, 39-43 (4th in NL West), 358 RS / 388 RA | Last 10 games: 4-6

Dodgers in focus

Shohei Ohtani: Dude has a 1.160 OPS (107 PA) in June. Career-wise, this has typically been his best month in terms of offensive output. He has a career OPS of 1.188 while hitting .331/.424/.764 in 558 career PA. How many home runs will he hit and will any of them be wet? Or will the Giants give him the Bonds treatment? With Betts and Muncy out of this series, the temptation has to be greater, even if the Dodgers are getting excellent performances from literally everyone else.

Landon Knack: I don’t follow Dodgers talent, but alongside 24-year-old outfielder Miguel Vargas (.968 OPS in 37 PA), Knack has been a solid addition with a 2.10 ERA in 25.2 IP (5 starts). He’s a four-seam, slider, changeup and curveball starter with a fastball that averages 93. His slider is 2,600 RPM, and that’s fantastic – basically Ryan Walker’s slider (2,603 ​​RPM). But it doesn’t quite look like Walker’s. It looks like he can shape it and throw it like his other pitches, so he just ends up getting really tight and close to the zone. Could be a big matchup problem for Heliot Ramos in particular, but as a Game 1 matchup against Logan Webb, he’ll be fun to watch. The Giants are trying to figure out how to score 1-2 runs against him while the Giants ace hopefully hits aces. I just think it’s unfair that the Dodgers also have a Landon (even though the Giants Landtn) and he is feeling better.

Daniel Hudson: The 37-year-old relief pitcher has a 0.00 ERA and a 1.19 FIP in 10.2 IP in June, and while it’s odd that the Dodgers have a bullpen at this point — I’m just assuming they win every game 8-3 and the guys getting the final 6-9 outs could be anyone — I wonder if the Giants have a chance to capitalize if the game ends up being close. As good as LA’s relief corps has been (8th most valuable by fWAR), they haven’t really been challenged this month. The only opponent they faced in June with an above-average lineup was the Yankees (117 wRC+ — #3 in MLB). The Giants are a little better than average, and they have a group of young guys and aging veterans looking to prove something.

Giants to watch

Michael Conforto: Come on, Michael Conforto! You’ve been solid against the slider this season. You’re facing a close opponent tonight in Landon Knack, but let’s hit some doubles or home runs in this series.

LaMonte Wade Jr.: Welcome back, old friend. Get on base and score some runs!

Camilo Doval: If you find yourself in a rescue situation, don’t screw it up!

Luke Jackson: Don’t worry. We’re all seeing the same player. He hasn’t been good, and if he gets into a game in this series, it’s probably because things are going very badly. His 40.2% hard hit rate is right on his career (for the “but his career is average!” nerds out there), but he’s striking out just 17% of batters (career 23%) and walking 12% (career 10%). You can imagine Bob Melvin thinking a veteran like Jackson could work his way through part of the lineup with Pages, Vargas, and Biggio, but he’d be wrong!

Forecast time