After a series facing plenty of left-handers against the Braves, the Dodgers offense will see a second right-handed starter in Milwaukee. Although the scoring output was disappointing in Game 1, Dave Roberts sticks with his approach of righty-lefty throughout the lineup, but there are a couple of changes.
Tommy Edman, who was on the bench for Game 1, gets the starting nod over Kiké Hernández in the ninth spot, playing second base. This is Edman’s first start since Game 2 of the NLDS, having appeared
off the bench in each of the Dodgers’ last three games. More notably, perhaps, Will Smith drops to the fifth spot in the order, with Teoscar Hernández moving up to bat third, rewarded for his two-hit performance in Game 1.
It’s been no secret that Smith has been the worst Dodgers hitter this postseason; however, his at-bats in the first game of the series provided a bit of hope that he can bounce back and be a real factor in this NLCS. The Dodgers’ starting catcher had more hard-hit balls than any other player in a 2-1 defeat—it just happened that they were all outs.
Mixing and matching late in games, expect either Josue De Paula or Kiké Hernández to be ready for an impact off the bench against a Brewers reliever, depending on which reliever is on the mound late in the game. De Paula in particular has impressed with key walks in this postseason.
