Ryu looks great, Pollock goes deep, injury news

The Dodgers lost to the Royals 7-4 on Friday night. Here are some takeaways.

Hyun-Jin Ryu shines

With Opening Day less than three weeks away, it’s unclear as to who will be making the start for the Dodgers. It was announced it would be Clayton Kershaw, but as he deals with a lingering injury, he becomes less likely as each day passes.

Walker Buehler would likely be the next man up, but he has yet to appear in a game this spring as well. So the question arises, who gets the nod on Opening Day?

Well, there are still three weeks to figure that out, but Hyun-Jin Ryu has made a strong case this spring to be the guy to get the ball for game one.

Ryu had another stellar performance on Friday night. He threw three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit with three strikeouts. So far this spring, Ryu has thrown six scoreless innings. He has six strikeouts, with a WHIP of 0.67. On top of not allowing a run, he has yet to walk a batter as well.

To simply put it, he has looked phenomenal. If Kershaw and Buehler are unable to go, expect Ryu to be the starter on Opening Day.

The long ball

Joc Pederson is 2-for-20 this spring. Both of those hits, have come via the long ball. Pederson hit his second homer of the spring on Friday, and it was an absolute blast.

“We don’t evaluate Spring Training as far as results,” Dave Roberts said about Joc. “But I think his at-bat quality has been considerably better as far as staying in the strike zone. And he put a really good swing on that fastball right there.”

Getting in on the home run action as well was A.J. Pollock, who hit his first homer of spring with the Dodgers. Pollock is hitting only .238 this spring, but he has an on-base percentage of .360.

Injury news

• The biggest piece of news that came out of camp on Friday was Joe Kelly’s injury. According to Roberts, he injured his back due to “standing for too long” while cooking cajun food. As shocking of an injury as that is, it’s luckily not expected to be serious, and it won’t keep Kelly out for too long. He threw a 30-pitch bullpen session last night.
• Russell Martin, who has been held out the last few weeks as he’s dealt with lower back soreness, might play on Sunday.
• Corey Seager will return to action today after missing the last few days with an illness.
• Clayton Kershaw played catch again, but still hasn’t thrown off a mound
• Walker Buehler is set to throw a bullpen session today

Today’s Lineups

First pitch is at 12:05 p.m. PT. You can catch the game on SportsNet LA.