Series preview: Dodgers host Giants to begin season

As it should be every year, the 2020 MLB season will kick off with a matchup of the Dodgers and the Giants. LA hosts their rival for four games to begin the year. For the Dodgers, they’ll be competing for a World Series championship this season. The Giants? Well, they’ll be competing to make sure they don’t finish with the worst record in baseball.

Regardless of how good both teams are, anything can happen anytime these two teams face each other.

Thursday: (Clayton Kershaw vs. Johnny Cueto)

As expected, Clayton Kershaw will make yet another Opening Day start for LA. This will be his ninth career start on Opening Day, and very well could be his last. Take advantage of it, Dodgers fans! This will be the fourth time Kerhsaw has opened the season against the Giants.

In his three Opening Day starts against the Giants, Kershaw has thrown 22 innings. He has 23 strikeouts and has only allowed one run. Safe to say, he’s the guy that LA wants on the mound to kick off the season against the Giants.

Johnny Cueto gets things started for the Giants. For Cueto, he hopes this will be his first healthy year since 2017. He has made only 13 starts over the last two seasons, as he underwent Tommy John surgery. This will be the 11th career start for him at Dodger Stadium, a place in which he’s thrived throughout his career. Cueto owns a 2.36 career ERA at Chavez Ravine. The only stadium in which he owns a better ERA is at PNC Park.

Although he hasn’t pitched much over the years, Cueto is the kind of starter who can bring his A-Game on any given night.

Friday: (Ross Stripling vs. TBD)

The Dodgers will go up against TBD for the next three games. Bold move on the Giants’ part. Getting the start for LA will be Ross Stripling, who will finally get an opportunity as a full-time starter in 2020.

He’s never started more than ²⁄₃ of his outings during his career. It looks like we’ll see that change this season. For his career, Stripling has made 52 career starts. He’s 13-15 with a 3.71 ERA. In 257 innings, he has 250 strikeouts and 55 walks. Stripling has made four career starts against the Giants, along with coming out of the bullpen 10 times. He owns a 3.55 career ERA against them.

Saturday: (Julio Urias vs. TBD)

Finally. After what seems like forever, Julio Urias will finally enter the season as a full-time starter for the Dodgers. He made his debut all the way back in 2016, and now it’s finally time to see if he has what it takes to be a solid member of the starting rotation.

He’s still only made 28 starts during his career. Urias has gone 5-5 with a 3.66 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 125 strikeouts in 123 innings pitched.

His six starts against the Giants are actually the most he’s made against any other team. He’s also appeared in 12 games against them, the most of any club. In addition to facing them the most, he has dominated San Francisco. His 1.34 ERA against them is the lowest against any team he’s thrown at least 10 innings against.

Sunday: (Alex Wood vs. TBD)

He’s back! After spending a (disastrous) season in Cincinnati, Alex Wood returns to the Dodgers’ starting rotation. Wood hopes to recapture what he did during his final two seasons in Los Angeles, where he was an All-Star and had a Top 10 finish in Cy Young Award voting.

For Wood, this will be his 10th start in his career against the Giants. He’s 4-3 with a 3.90 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.31.

We don’t know exactly who will be facing the Dodgers aside from Cueto, but here are some potential names we can see:

• Jeff Samardzija
• Drew Smyly
• Kevin Gausman

Notable injuries for the Giants:

• Evan Longoria (oblique)
• Brandon Belt (heel)
• Trevor Cahill (finger)
• Tyler Beede (elbow)
• Buster Posey (sitting out season)