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Winners of 11 of 15, the Guardians head west for three games against the Rockies, who have fallen on hard times. The Rockies are in last place in the N.L. West and are 10-18 since May 14.
On the season they are 16-16 at home.
The Rockies are very good offensively in the thin air and reduced gravity of Coors Field. In fact, they are averaging 5.81 runs per game at home so the G’s pitching staff will be severely tested.
That being said, the Rockies’ bats have cooled down recently as they are hitting .229/.637 in June, averaging just under four runs per game.
The Rockies resemble the Guardians offensively, ranking 3rd in batting average, 9th in OBP, and 22nd in home runs (despite playing half their games at altitude). They have hit 38 home runs at Coors against 15 on the road. That knife cuts both ways as their pitchers have given up 40 home runs at home against 20 on the road.
Even the Guardians should be able to hit some home runs in this park.
The Rockies rank 27th in team ERA at 5.02. They don’t have a big home/road split as their home ERA is 5.15. We could see a lot of scoring this series.
The Rockies hammer lefties to the tune of .284/.775 while hitting .246/.686 against right-handers. This is good news for Bieber and McKenzie but Pilkington is going to be really challenged on Tuesday.
Obviously the key is to make them hit it on the ground. McKenzie has been giving up some long balls recently so he needs to be careful in this next start.
The Rockies are starting three journeymen, beginning with 27-year-old righty Antonio Senzatela, who will face Bieber tonight. Senzatela has a career line of 38-38, 4.84, all in the National League with no DH until now.
This year he’s been good at home (3.76 ERA) and awful on the road (6.75). Opposing batters are hitting .383 against him with a .926 OPS. He allows a ton of baserunners; his WHIP is 1.85. In nine starts he’s pitched only 41 innings, allowing 67 hits (!). He’s been alternating between very good and very bad his last few starts. His last start was his best of the year, holding the Giants to one run in six innings.
Bieber is on a roll, having allowed just six runs in his last five starts. Let’s see what he can do at Coors Field, though. The Coors Field park factor is the second highest in baseball at 1.41, meaning 41% more runs are scored there than at a neutral park. Even with the humidors this park is a launching pad. But the Rockies have been struggling at the dish recently and they hit lefties better than righties, so at least Bieber has that going for him.
Individually, looking at just the home splits, the Rockies are led by C.J. Cron at .358/1.078. Cron is hitting .219 on the road, so you can see the home park effect. It's night and day for this guy. Cron is also hitting .313/.912 against right-handed pitching. Bendan Rodgers, 2B, is hitting .293/.867 at home and is coming off a N.L. Player of the Week award. Charlie Blackmon, 35, is hitting .272/.800 against right-handed pitchers. For his career he's hitting .298/.849. By comparison, Michael Brantley, also 35, has a career line of .298/.794.
The Guardians are hot while the Rockies have been struggling, so we might be catching them at a good time. We have the better starters going in game 1 and 3 with Bieber and McKenzie, but game 2 is going to be tough with an inexperienced lefty going against a team that is very tough on lefties in a ballpark with a 1.4 park factor.
On the season they are 16-16 at home.
The Rockies are very good offensively in the thin air and reduced gravity of Coors Field. In fact, they are averaging 5.81 runs per game at home so the G’s pitching staff will be severely tested.
That being said, the Rockies’ bats have cooled down recently as they are hitting .229/.637 in June, averaging just under four runs per game.
The Rockies resemble the Guardians offensively, ranking 3rd in batting average, 9th in OBP, and 22nd in home runs (despite playing half their games at altitude). They have hit 38 home runs at Coors against 15 on the road. That knife cuts both ways as their pitchers have given up 40 home runs at home against 20 on the road.
Even the Guardians should be able to hit some home runs in this park.
The Rockies rank 27th in team ERA at 5.02. They don’t have a big home/road split as their home ERA is 5.15. We could see a lot of scoring this series.
The Rockies hammer lefties to the tune of .284/.775 while hitting .246/.686 against right-handers. This is good news for Bieber and McKenzie but Pilkington is going to be really challenged on Tuesday.
Obviously the key is to make them hit it on the ground. McKenzie has been giving up some long balls recently so he needs to be careful in this next start.
The Rockies are starting three journeymen, beginning with 27-year-old righty Antonio Senzatela, who will face Bieber tonight. Senzatela has a career line of 38-38, 4.84, all in the National League with no DH until now.
This year he’s been good at home (3.76 ERA) and awful on the road (6.75). Opposing batters are hitting .383 against him with a .926 OPS. He allows a ton of baserunners; his WHIP is 1.85. In nine starts he’s pitched only 41 innings, allowing 67 hits (!). He’s been alternating between very good and very bad his last few starts. His last start was his best of the year, holding the Giants to one run in six innings.
Bieber is on a roll, having allowed just six runs in his last five starts. Let’s see what he can do at Coors Field, though. The Coors Field park factor is the second highest in baseball at 1.41, meaning 41% more runs are scored there than at a neutral park. Even with the humidors this park is a launching pad. But the Rockies have been struggling at the dish recently and they hit lefties better than righties, so at least Bieber has that going for him.
Individually, looking at just the home splits, the Rockies are led by C.J. Cron at .358/1.078. Cron is hitting .219 on the road, so you can see the home park effect. It's night and day for this guy. Cron is also hitting .313/.912 against right-handed pitching. Bendan Rodgers, 2B, is hitting .293/.867 at home and is coming off a N.L. Player of the Week award. Charlie Blackmon, 35, is hitting .272/.800 against right-handed pitchers. For his career he's hitting .298/.849. By comparison, Michael Brantley, also 35, has a career line of .298/.794.
The Guardians are hot while the Rockies have been struggling, so we might be catching them at a good time. We have the better starters going in game 1 and 3 with Bieber and McKenzie, but game 2 is going to be tough with an inexperienced lefty going against a team that is very tough on lefties in a ballpark with a 1.4 park factor.
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