The middle game of three between the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers is slated for national television on Saturday. It’ll feature two teams heading in completely opposite directions, one in a heated battle for the top spot in the NL West and the other desperately trying to hold on to relevance as it slips closer and closer to moving from buyer to seller at the non-waiver trade deadline. For the Rockies, the bleeding needs to stop now. They’re expected to send German Marquez to the mound on Saturday to make the start opposite Kenta Maeda for the Dodgers.
First pitch for the game between the Rockies and Dodgers is scheduled for Saturday, June 30, 2018, at 7:15 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium. The matchup will be shown on FOX.
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Odds Analysis
The last time these two teams faced off in L.A. was a turning point of sorts for both clubs. The Dodgers were one of the biggest early disappointments, going into the series on May 21 with a 20-26 record, just removed from a season low 16-26. They were in fourth place in the NL West.
Colorado, on the other hand, entered that series a half game out of first and took the top spot in the division with a win in the series opener. They were 26-22 after that win.
Since that time, however, these two teams have been going in completely opposite directions. The Dodgers are now just a couple games out of the division lead and have gone 23-9 since May 21, including beating the Rockies in their last five head-to-head contests.
Colorado, by comparison, is in freefall. The offense hasn’t been as good as expected and the bullpen has completely fallen apart. The Rockies are now fourth in the division and four games under-.500 with a 12-20 record following that series opening win against L.A. on May 21. They’re 8-16 in June. Surprisingly, though, this is a much better team on the road than at home so playing this series at Dodger Stadium rather than Coors Field could be a blessing for the Rockies rather than a curse.
Probable Pitchers
Neither team has formally announced its starter for Saturday’s contest, but both German Marquez and Kenta Maeda in in rotation to make the start.
Marquez is perhaps the weakest link in the Rockies’ rotation this season. The 23-year old right-hander made a good first impression in his rookie season last year, going 11-7 with a 4.39 ERA, translating to a 116 ERA+ considering his home field.
There was a lot of excitement around him heading into 2018, but he’s been in a sophomore slump for much of the year. He’s 5-8 with a 5.53 ERA and 1.554 WHIP. His hits and walks are both up though he is also striking out more than he did last year.
Over the course of 16 starts, Marquez has thrown just 83 innings, averaging just over five innings a start. That’s been exposing a bullpen that’s been downright awful for most the season.
In his last start, Marquez went just 3.1 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits while walking three. Since the start of June, he’s allowed 25 runs in five games and given up eight home runs in 15.1 innings. Those are not good rates. He’s struggling.
In his last start against the Dodgers, he went six innings and allowed four runs. He was better than that in his last start at Dodger Stadium, holding L.A. to one run—and just two hits—in seven innings. Of course, that was a different Dodger team at the time.
On the other side of this matchup, Maeda has his own questions—he’s just three starts removed from the LD—though his season numbers far exceed those of Marquez.
He’s 5-4 with a 3.44 ERA in 68 innings. He’s coming off a seven innings, scoreless outing against the Cubs where he struck out nine and allowed just three hits and one walk. That was a nice bounce back from a 3.2 inning start against the Cubs the game prior.
Maeda was on the DL when the Dodgers traveled to Colorado, but in his start against the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, he went 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, walking four and striking out 12 while throwing a season high 111 pitches.
Live Betting
It’s hard to evaluate either the Dodgers or Rockies on season numbers, but looking at the June stats, its easy to see why the Dodgers are thriving and the Rockies aren’t.
Los Angeles has the highest June OPS in baseball at .855. They’ve hit 51 dingers and 40 more doubles in 23 games while posting .341 OBP. That’s some impressive offensive production. Of course, the Rockies—partly by virtue of their stadium—have scored five more runs than the Dodgers this month, though their OPS is much lower at .780.
Up and down the order, the Dodgers are getting impressive production as Dave Roberts has been able to mix and match players with so many hot hitters.
Joc Pederson has hit 10 home runs in 21 June game. He’s batting .309 with a 1.333 OPS. Max Muncy has nine homers and Cody Bellinger has eight this month, both have an OPS over 1.000, too. They’re not the only ones hitting the ball well. Chris Taylor has a .382 OBP this month, Kike Hernandez has six homers and a .909 OPS, Matt Kemp has a team leading 17 RBIs, and Yasiel Pujig has a .916 OPS. That’s a lot of depth.
For the Rockies, Ian Desmond is picking up his game and Nolan Arenado is, well, Nolan Arenado. Carlos Gonzalez has picked up his play, too, but that’s hardly enough to cover for a pedestrian month from Charlie Blackmon and a .289 OBP from D.J. LeMahieu. Of course, the team could overcome that given the other offense around them if the pitching—particularly the bullpen—was holding up.
In the bullpen, the Dodgers could use some more set up options leading into Kenley Jansen. The middle innings are still vulnerable even though the bullpen results have been much better over the last month and a half. The offense has taken some of the pressure off which has helped.
While L.A. is far from an ideal bullpen, the Dodgers at least have lockdown closer pitching like one now. The Rockies don’t have that.
Wade Davis is 0-2 with two blown saves in nine June games. He’s allowed 10 runs in 7.2 innings while walking seven. Meanwhile, Bryan Shaw’s been worse. Jake McGee’s been bad, too. Adam Ottavino’s been the only reliable reliever for Bud Black and that’s not nearly enough, particularly when Saturday’s starter is unlikely to go more than five innings.
MLB Pick
The Dodgers and Rockies are rolling in opposite directions and nothing in Saturday’s matchup looks to shift that.
Look for the Dodgers to get to Marquez early, building a lead and adding on in the middle innings against a lost Rockies’ bullpen.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers should get five or six solid innings from Maeda and while Colorado could get a few runs against the middle relievers, look for it to be too little, too late as the Dodgers cruise to victory in relatively easy fashion.
MLB Odds: Dodgers 8, Rockies 4
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