The two top teams in the NL West are set to collide in a four game series beginning Thursday night with the Colorado Rockies hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s the Rockies two currently sit atop the standings and their pitching has been a big part of that. Nevertheless, the Dodgers remain only a couple games back and are looking for a big series to help buoy them back atop the standings where all the preseason prognosticators thought they’d be by this point in the year.
This series will be contested from Thursday, May 11, 2017 through Sunday, May 14, 2017 at Coors Field in Denver. Friday night’s game will be viewable nationally on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
The teams will kick off the series with a pair of southpaws on the hill in Thursday’s opener as Hyun-Jin Ryu returns from the disabled list to make the start for the Dodgers with Tyler Anderson getting the ball for the Rockies.
Ryu’s last start before leaving with a hip contusion was a pretty good one as he allowed just a single run in 5.1 innings of work while striking out nine Phillies. That was his first win after getting the loss in his first four starts, two of which coming against the Rockies.
The lefty has allowed six runs in 10.2 innings against Colorado this year, giving up four of his six home runs allowed in the process. Interestingly, three of those bombs were hit at Dodgers Stadium with just one coming at Coors Field.
Still, this’ll be the third time Ryu will face the Rockies in a month and a half and he’ll be coming off the DL to do it so there’s no telling how Ryu’s pitches will respond to the extra rest.
As for Anderson, much like Ryu, he’s struggled with the long ball, giving up nine of them in just 36.1 innings of work. That’s led to his inflated 6.69 ERA and 5.43 FIP. He was a consistent pitcher for the Rockies last year, but 2017 has been a struggle though things could be looking up. After a terrible April, he opened May with a six inning performance against a good hitting Diamondbacks squad where he allowed just one run on six hits, walking one and striking out 10. Still, much like Ryu with the Rockies, Anderson has struggled in two starts against the Dodgers this year, lasting five innings in each and allowing nine combined runs, seven earned.
Moving into the weekend, Friday’s game will feature Clayton Kershaw against Tyler Chatwood. Chatwood has been serviceable. He’s 3-4 with a 4.74 ERA, but his WHIP is 1.260 though—like Anderson—he’s been prone to the homer, too. As for Kershaw, he needs no introduction. This is obviously a mismatch at first glance and the numbers bear that out.
One can argue that Kershaw hasn’t been as dominating as normal this year, but even so, he’s still 5-2 with a 2.40 ERA and 0.925 WHIP in 48.2 innings. He’s still giving the Dodgers quality and quantity in innings. He’s been beatable at times as the two losses show, but the matchup doesn’t look friendly.
The last two matchups in this series are still uncertain though Alex Wood and Julio Urias figure to get the starts for the Dodgers. Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland could, and should, be on the bump for the Rockies in the Saturday and Sunday games.
For the Dodgers, Wood has been a huge success since moving to the rotation. Overall, he’s 3-0 with a 2.73 ERA and 1.011 WHIP. His FIP is down at 1.90 and he’s striking out 11.5 per nine innings. The walk rate is a bit up, but overall the 3.8 strikeout to walk ratio is very strong. He’s also kept the ball in the yard with just one homer in 29.2 innings. Urias continues to be a nasty pitcher since his recall from the minors. He’s here to stay now and is still looking for his first decision, but has allowed just two runs and nine hits combined in his first three starts, spanning 17 innings. He has walked 10 which is an issue, but that’s really the only way teams are able to get on base against him. He’s been unhittable. Batters don’t know where the ball is going and, unfortunately, neither does he sometimes.
Moving from a two strong young starters for the Dodgers to two for the Rockies. Freeland and Senzatela have been the stars of this Colorado rotation and a huge reason for the early season success.
Pitching in Coors Field is hard, but both these pitchers—save for a single bad outing for Freeland—have done well at home. Overall, both sport sub-3 ERAs and while Freeland has allowed a few more walks, both have done everything they’ve been asked.
Keep an eye on the strikeouts for both of these pitchers, however. They’re each getting results, but the FIP for both starters is higher than their respective ERAs largely due to a 4.9 strikeout per nine ratio for Senzatela and 5.9 mark for Freeland.
Surprising Performances
Don’t look now, but Chris Taylor is the offensive leader of this club—at least while he still gets playing time.
Taylor has been filling in for the number of injuries the Dodgers have been dealing with, primarily for Logan Forsythe who is just now starting some running drills as he aims to get back on the field.
The Dodgers aren’t in too much of a hurry as Taylor is 16-for-43 with three home runs, 12 RBIs and a 1.142 OPS. He’s been over 100% better than the average big leaguer given his 205 OPS+ and he’s hitting for power and average while getting on base nearly half of the time.
Chase Utley is still getting some at bats despite a .115 average at the moment, but Taylor is quickly becoming a must play every day for Dave Roberts. The same can be said for Cody Bellinger.
The young first-baseman-turned-outfielder-turned-first-baseman is seeing consistent at bats due to Adrian Gonzalez’s DL stint and he’s been everything the team hoped since his promotion. The team’s top prospect before the call up, he’s hitting .320 with a 1.073 OPS driven by a .393 OBP and .680 slugging. He’s already slammed five home runs in just 50 at bats and has 15 RBIs, just four shy of Yasiel Puig’s team leading 19 despite having fewer than half as many at bats.
Sure, Justin Turner and Corey Seager are hitting well, too, but the play of these two youngsters is really carrying this squad.
Interestingly, for the Dodgers, they’re also swinging much better against southpaws. The Rockies will throw a couple against them this series. Los Angeles has struggled against lefties in the past, but with Bellinger, Taylor and Franklin Gutierrez all hitting, the lineup is much more balanced than it was last year.
Bullpen Brilliance
The Rockies have the second best record in the National League, yet they rank No. 8 in runs scored in baseball and No. 20 in team ERA at 4.31. By comparison, the Dodgers rank No. 1 at 3.23.
The young starters have been good and the offense is still strong, but this team has had better offense before and overall, the ERA is still less than stellar.
It’s hard for the Rockies to rank too highly in any pitching stat given their ballpark, but the bullpen has been very strong.
Sure, the Dodgers’ pen has the better ERA, but the Rockies have found a formula where they simply need to get the lead through six and they’re golden. They’ve got the offense to help support pitchers so 3-4 runs allowed through six gets them a win more often than not.
Greg Holland has been a huge signing for the Rockies while Adam Ottavino and Jake McGee are off to good starts, too. Rather than having pitchers that depend on breaking balls that flatten out at the high altitude, the Rockies have turned to a few hard throwers who are less impacted by the thin air.
This is much the same equation the team used 10 year ago, when Brian Fuentes, Manny Corpas and company helped lead the team to 90-wins and World Series appearance.
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