Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
San Diego Padres (0-0) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (0-0)
Time, Probables:
Game 1 — Monday, Apr. 6 at 1:10 PM PT — James Shields vs. Clayton Kershaw
Game 2 — Tuesday, Apr. 7 at 7:10 PM PT — Tyson Ross vs. Zack Greinke
Game 3 — Wednesday, Apr. 8 at 7:10 PM PT — Andrew Cashner vs. Brandon McCarthy
On Monday, the Los Angeles Dodgers will begin the 2015 MLB season by welcoming the new-look San Diego Padres into town. This NL West showdown may very well be one of the more entertaining Opening Day matchups to watch. Of course, the Padres made quite a few high-profile moves this offseason, and they just pulled off yet another shocking trade with the Atlanta Braves, acquiring Melvin Upton Jr. and easily one of the best closers in the entire game in Craig Kimbrel.
Way back last December, however, one of the first moves the Padres made was acquiring outfielder Matt Kemp from the Dodgers in a blockbuster deal. Kemp earned a second-place finish in the NL MVP voting during his best season with the Dodgers back in 2011, and it should certainly be fun to see him square off against his former mates. Shortly after acquiring Kemp, the Padres acquired Justin Upton and Wil Myers to round out the rest of the revamped outfield.
Taking the ball for the Padres on Opening Day will be the newly-signed James Shields, who agreed to a reported four-year, $75 million deal with San Diego this past February. The 33-year-old Shields has been one of the game’s most durable arms, throwing over 200 innings every year since 2007. The Dodgers, however, will counter with Clayton Kershaw, who has now racked up three NL Cy Youngs and an MVP award over the past four seasons.
The second game of the best-of-three set will feature yet another great pitching matchup as Tyson Ross will be going up against Zack Greinke. Ross is coming off of a breakout year in which he went 13-14 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP for the Padres, so it will indeed be interesting to see what 2015 has in store for the soon-to-be 28-year-old. Greinke, on the other hand, won a Cy Young award with the Kansas City Royals back in 2009, and he has been worth a minimum of 3.3 fWAR every season since then. Still only 31 years old, the right-hander should be primed for another great year in his third season in Los Angeles.
Lastly, Andrew Cashner is expected to go toe-to-toe with Brandon McCarthy in the final game of the series. Cashner made only 19 starts last season, but he was very solid for the Padres when available, going 5-7 with a 2.55 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. McCarthy was excellent for the New York Yankees after coming over from the Arizona Diamondbacks in July of last season, going 7-5 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP over 14 starts. With Hyun-Jin Ryu on the sidelines, the Dodgers may really need McCarthy to step up.
Prediction: While the Padres and GM A.J. Preller were the talk of baseball over the winter, the Dodgers may now be more motivated than ever to go out and show that they are still the class of the division. Look for Los Angeles to start off strong and make a statement by taking two out of three.
* Game times and probable pitching matchups courtesy of MLB.com
Brad Faber is a Senior Writer and Sabermetrics Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Brad_Faber, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.
