MLB Series Preview: Colorado Rockies (6-7) vs. San Diego Padres (5-7)
By Andrew Dill
Jul 8, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) scores on a sacrifice bunt ahead of the play by San Diego Padres catcher Rene Rivera (44) during the sixth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
The Colorado Rockies look to bounce back after losing two out of three to the San Francisco Giants as they take on another NL West rival in the San Diego Padres. Game one of the four-game series will feature Rockies RHP Jordan Lyles matching up with Padres LHP Eric Stults. Lyles has been impressive thus far since being called up to spot-start Tyler Chatwood who was out with a hamstring injury. He is 2-0 in his first two starts with an ERA of 3.86. In his most recent outing at home against the Chicago White Sox, Lyles went 6.2 innings pitching, giving up just one earned run in the 8-1 win.
Probable Pitching Match-Ups:
April 14th: COL: Jordan Lyles (2-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. SD: Eric Stults (0-2, 5.59 ERA)
April 15th: COL: Juan Nicasio (1-0, 3.75 ERA) vs. Robbie Erlin (1-0, 1.35 ERA)
April 16th: COL: Jorge De La Rosa (0-2, 9.69 ERA) vs. SD: Andrew Cashner (1-1, 1.29 ERA)
April 17th: COL: Franklin Morales (0-1, 6.39 ERA) vs. SD: Ian Kennedy (1-2, 4.24 ERA)
Colorado’s offense has been nothing but impressive to start off the 2014 season, ranked second in runs (70), first in batting average (.299), third in on-base percentage (.348), and first in slugging percentage (.468). However, their pitching staff hasn’t done a good enough job of keeping them in the game. As a team they rank 27th in ERA (5.02), 25th in quality starts (4), 20th in WHIP (1.34), and 22nd in batting average against (.267). The Rockies will need a better start out of Jorge De La Rosa Wednesday night as their so-called ‘ace” has struggled to start the season.
San Diego’s third baseman Chase Headley has gotten off to a rough start and has been dealing with a sore knee. In 11 games played, he’s batting (8-for-43), hitting at a line of .186/.222/.302 with two doubles, one home run, and four RBI’s. Their shortstop has started off the season on a hot-streak as Everth Cabrera is leading the team in average at .347 (17-for-49) with five doubles and 22 total bases.
After starting off the season with a ten game hitting-streak, Michael Cuddyer cooled off in the series against the Giants. In his two games, he would go 0-for-7 with one walk and one strikeout. He is still batting .354 with three home runs and ten RBI’s. Teams are having a hard time getting his teammate Charlie Blackmon out. Blackmon went (4-for-7, one double, one RBI) in the series against San Francisco as he is sitting at an average of .488 (20-for-41).
The Rockies would lose starter Brett Anderson in Saturday’s game against the Giants after suffering a broken finger in the 1-0 win. Colorado announced they would place the lefty on the 15-day DL which would put Franklin Morales back in the starting rotation. Morales was the odd-man out when Tyler Chatwood was activated Sunday.
MLB Series Preview (Rockies vs. Padres) Starting Times:
April 14th: 10:10 PM ET, 8:10 PM MT.
April 15th: 10:10 PM ET, 8:10 PM MT.
April 16th: 10:10 PM ET, 8:10 PM MT.
April 17th: 6:40 PM ET, 4:40 PM MT.