Padres enter big series with Dodgers still missing Manny Machado

The San Diego Padres are gearing up for a four-game series against their biggest division rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Padres enter the series 1.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Both teams are well over .500.

The Friars have lost their best offensive resources and are entering the series a bit undermanned. They’re down both sluggers Manny Machado and Fernando Tatís Jr, who suffer an ankle sprain and wrist fractures, respectively.

Tatís has yet to make his season debut, and in his absence, Machado carried the lineup. Since Machado’s absence, success has been much more difficult to achieve. The Padres have lost half their games without Machado.

However, the pitching matchup for Thursday night seems to be ideal for San Diego.

Thursday’s probable pitching matchup could help the Padres’ lineup

San Diego is scheduled to start Joe Musgrove, who is having an incredible season. Musgrove currently has his career-best earned run average (2.12) and has wins above replacement of 2.2. He’s also struck out 82 and walked 18 over 85 innings.

The Dodgers’ probable starting pitcher, Mitch White, isn’t having nearly as good of a season. He has the highest ERA of his career (4.25) and WAR of 0.3. He’s struck out 30 and walked 10 over 29.2 innings. The Padres will likely have several opportunities to score without needing the power of Machado or Tatís.

The probable matchups for the rest of the series don’t seem to be as good for the Padres. They’ll likely struggle the most on Friday night with a matchup of Blake Snell and Tony Gonsolin.

Snell made his season debut in mid-May and hasn’t done well yet. He has a high ERA of 5.60 and has given up 24 runs over 35.1 innings. He’s struck out 38 and walked 19.

Gonsolin is drastically better and has his career-best ERA of 1.58. He’s only given up 14 runs over 74 innings. He’s struck out 69 and walked 23.

Saturday will be the most even matchup between Yu Darvish and Tyler Anderson. Darvish and Anderson have almost identical ERAs of 3.26 and 3.23, respectively. Darvish has produced 75 strikeouts and 18 walks over 88.1 innings. Anderson has 67 strikeouts and 13 walks over 78 innings.

A fairly even matchup is scheduled for Sunday with MacKenzie Gore and Clayton Kershaw. Gore has an ERA of 3.34 and Kershaw has a slightly better one at 2.94. Gore, who made his career debut this season, has struck out 65 and walked 28 over 59.1 innings. Kershaw has struck out 51 and walked 11 over 49 innings.