Padres: Three things to watch in Dodgers series

The Padres open up a three-game series against the Dodgers at home. Here are three things to watch.

Owners of a 6-4 record and losers of their last two, the Padres welcome in their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the biggest series on the young season. The Friars won their first series at home, taking three-of-four against the Diamondbacks.

Arizona is a competitive team, but they are far from being one of the top tier teams like the Dodgers are. Los Angeles has made the playoffs in seven consecutive years, but they’ve failed to capture a World Series title. In an effort to change that, they headlined the offseason, acquiring Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox, and extending him to a 12-year deal nearly two weeks ago.

So when the two squads meet on Monday night, here are three things to watch throughout the series.

Will Mookie Betts wreak havoc on the Padres?

Mookie Betts is another player that Padres pitchers will have to navigate around in that Dodger lineup. He left Sunday’s game with a sore finger and is reportedly day-to-day. It’ll be interesting to see if a.) Betts actually plays b.) how well he performs.

Betts only has a six-game sample size against the Padres in his career, posting a .280/.321/.360 line with two doubles and two RBI. He faced the Friars three times in 2019, going 4-for-12 with two RBI in the Red Sox series win at Petco.

The 27-year-old is batting .289 for the Dodgers, going 2-for-3 on Sunday before exiting. He has two home runs and six RBI, giving the Dodgers a legitimate threat at the top of the order.

Should he play, it will be critical for the Padres to limit Mookie’s production.

How will Padres big three in the starting rotation fare against Dodgers hitting?

Fortunately for the Padres, they’ll have their top three pitchers going for them in the Dodgers series. Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet, and Garrett Richards are off to promising starts and have lived up to the hype thus far.

But despite a promising rookie season, the Dodgers were Paddack’s kryptonite, with a 5.65 ERA coming in three starts. He fanned 15 batters in 14.1 innings but allowed nine earned runs and four home runs during that span.

Lamet hasn’t had much success against the Dodgers either, having made four starts with a 5.14 ERA. Last year, the big righty made two starts against Los Angeles, fanning 17 batters in ten innings while spinning a 6.30 ERA.

Richards hasn’t faced the Dodgers since 2015, but he’s generally had success against LA in his career, making six appearances – including four starts – striking out 30 batters in 30.1 innings with a 1.78 ERA.

That was obviously pre-injury, and Richards has looked strong in two starts this season. For the Padres to have a chance at winning this series, they need their top three starters to give the offense a chance.