Dodgers Dugout: ‘Big’ series with the Padres starts today

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and the Dodgers are on pace to finish 137-25 this season, which shows you how ridiculous projections are this early in the season because I don’t see how the Dodgers can win more than 135 games.

The first of what will probably be a few “biggest series of the season” starts tonight when the Dodgers, the best team in baseball, take on the San Diego Padres, the second-best team in baseball.

The Dodgers are off to an impressive 11-2 start this season, but that still puts them only 2.5 games ahead of the Padres in the West (and 2.5 ahead of the Giants, but the Giants won’t keep it up). So, it’s possible the Dodgers could be out of first place by Sunday (or, have a 5.5-game lead).

And expect that to continue throughout the season.

And although Dave Roberts said “I think you can read into it any way you want ... “ It’s intriguing that the Dodgers went through some rotation contortions to make sure their three starting pitchers this weekend were Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Trevor Bauer.

Of course, setting up things to go your way, while smart, is also a good way to set yourself up for disappointment.

This will be the first test of the season for the Dodgers. They have run up their lofty record against a bad Rockies team, an A’s team that was struggling and a Nationals team that was missing several players because of coronavirus concerns. They could easily be 13-0, because the two losses were really caused by poor situational hitting, poor relief and shaky defense.

The Padres should have Fernando Tatis Jr. back in the lineup after he spent time on the IL after injuring his shoulder swinging at a pitch.

But the reality is, it’s just three games. If the Padres sweep the Dodgers, that doesn’t mean they are markedly better, and vice versa. It should be a great series, the first of many great series with the Padres this season. It could be an NLCS preview. It might not be. After Sunday, there will still be 146 games left in the season, so don’t get carried away with whatever happens this weekend.

Kenley Jansen gets mad

In his last two outings, Kenley Jansen has been excellent. Two innings, no hits, no runs, one walk, five strikeouts, two saves. On Wednesday, he came in the game in the ninth inning to protect a 4-2 lead. His velocity was down and he walked the first better. Immediate reaction from those watching: “Uh oh, the bad Jansen is here.” Fans in the stands started booing.

And then you could see the transformation on the mound. Jansen got angry. It was like the great line from Bill Bixby as David Banner in “The Incredible Hulk”: “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” He then struck out the next three batters.

“I’m not perfect,” Jansen said. “I don’t want to come in walking guys. Not what I’m trying to do. We all want to win here. To me, that’s just nonsense. It’s noise. I’m gonna continue to work my ass off and help the Dodgers win another championship. That’s what I’m here for.”

But was he angry at the fans?

“Myself,” he said. “It’s Kenley versus Kenley.”

Whatever the motivation, a Jansen that pitches like he did the last two games is an amazing asset. He’s at a point now where he has to keep proving it, but every Dodger fan is pulling for him.

Or as Roberts said, “I like it. He should pitch angry. I like angry Kenley.”

The other big change for Jansen is new entrance music. No more “California Love.” Instead, Tupac’s “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.”

“Just a new beginning, man,” Jansen said. “It’s time to start fresh.”

Nacho Man

Covered in cheese, a fan holds Justin Turner’s home run ball after it landed in his nachos.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

There you are, minding your own business and eating some nachos while sitting in the Dodgers’ new home run seats this season. Next thing you know, Justin Turner has launched a ball your way, it lands in your nachos and splatters cheese all over your hoodie.

What happens next?

“I saw the ball coming toward me, and my first thought was not to try to reach over the fence,” the fan, named Brando, said on the telecast of the game. “Luckily, the nachos saved me, and I can’t believe I ended up with the ball.”

Turner made it up to him:

“I saw that it was nachos, so I came up into the clubhouse and asked Javier [a clubhouse attendant] if he could run out a new tray of nachos for the guy,” Turner said. “I mean, I felt bad. I’m sure it was not a $2 plate of nachos. I ruined a meal for him, so I had to replace it.”

Brando thanked Turner for the nachos during his television interview, and the Dodgers gave the fan a blue World Series hoodie.

You can watch the incident by clicking here.

These names look familiar

A look at how players from the 2020 Dodgers who are no longer on the team are faring this season (through Thursday):

Pedro Báez, Houston, On the IL after testing positive for coronavirus

Dylan Floro, Miami: 0-1, 2.70 ERA (6.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts)

Kiké Hernández, Boston: .216/.255/.314 (2 doubles, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 59 OPS+)

Adam Kolarek, Oakland: 13.50 ERA (3.1 IP, 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts)

Jake McGee, San Francisco: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 saves (7.1 IP, 1 hit, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts)

Joc Pederson, Chicago Cubs: .108/.209/.189 (1 homer, 4 RBIs, 14 OPS+)

Josh Sborz, Texas: 1-1, 7.20 ERA (5 IP, 4 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts)

Ross Stripling, Toronto: 0-1, 7.56 ERA (8.1 IP, 13 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts, put on IL Thursday with forearm strain)

Alex Wood, San Francisco: on the IL with back injury (scheduled to start Sunday)

Live blog

Have you checked out our Dodgers live blog? If not, you missed out on some cool Vin Scully videos and historical data, as well as updates on the game as each inning expired or a run was scored. If you have any comments or suggestions to make the live blog better, please email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com
and let me know your thoughts. In the meantime, you can always find the live blog for every game year at https://www.latimes.com/livedodgers.

Up next

Today, Dodgers (Walker Buehler, 1-0, 1.50 ERA) at San Diego (*Ryan Weathers, 1-0, 1.50 ERA), 7 p.m., Sportsnet LA

Saturday, Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 2-1, 2.89 ERA) at San Diego (Yu Darvish, 1-0, 3.06 ERA), 5:30 p.m., Sportsnet LA

Sunday, Dodgers (Trevor Bauer, 2-0, 2.70 ERA) at San Diego (*Blake Snell, 0-0, 4.35 ERA), 1 p.m., Sportsnet LA

*-left-handed

And finally

Vin Scully tells a story about the death threats Jackie Robinson received. Watch and listen here.