COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:
ONWARD
• The Colorado Rockies continue their seven-game road trip tonight with the first of three games in Cleveland after dropping three of four in Philadelphia.
• The Rockies .261 winning percentage is last in the National League and tied with the 2005 club for the worst winning percentage through 23 games in franchise history.
• The Rockies have opened the season with seven consecutive winless series, the first time in franchise history that Colorado has failed to win any of their first seven series … have lost five and split two this season entering the set in Cleveland … the 2005 Rockies were the only other club in franchise history to go winless through their first six series of the season.
SPRING CLEANING
• Colorado has made 17 errors, tied with San Francisco for the most in the Majors, and has allowed an MLB-most 18 unearned runs through their first 23 games.
• Rockies pitchers have posted a 44.9 ground ball percentage so far this season, tied for the sixth-highest percentage in the Majors … opposing batters hold a .306 BABIP, the eighth-highest in the Majors, and are hitting home runs at a 1.55 HR/9 rate, the third-highest across baseball.
CHUCK (STILL) NAZTY
• Charlie Blackmon is sitting at 890 career runs scored, two shy of tying Larry Walker for the second-most in franchise history.
• Blackmon’s 291 career doubles are six short of tying Walker for the second-most doubles in franchise history.
• Germán Márquez needs just seven strikeouts to tie Jorge De La Rosa for the most strikeouts in franchise history … Márquez’s next win will be the 66th of his career, breaking a tie with Jeff Francis for the third-most wins in franchise history … De La Rosa holds the franchise record with 86 wins.
ARM BARN
• The Rockies bullpen has tossed 90.0 innings of relief through 23 games, the third-most in the Majors and the most in the National League … Rockies relievers have recorded 96 strikeouts, tied for the second-most in the Majors.
• Over the last 18 games since April 4, the bullpen has posted a 3.95 ERA (73.0 IP, 32 ER) with 35 walks and 78 strikeouts while allowing six home runs.
• Jake Bird ranks third in the NL with 18 strikeouts … has pitched 7.1 scoreless innings over his last four outings with three hits, two walks and 14 strikeouts.
• Justin Lawrence tossed a career-high 2.1 scoreless innings of relief April 20, allowing two hits with one walk and a career-high tying four strikeouts (also: May 8, 2021 at STL) … has not allowed a run on the road this season (5.2 IP) with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
• Brent Suter’s 1.26 ERA (14.1 IP, 2 ER) is the fourth-lowest in baseball among relievers with at least 13 innings pitched … his 14.1 innings pitched are the fifth-most among all relievers … the left-hander has spun more than one inning in eight of nines games this season
DÍAZZLING
• Elias Díaz’s 21 games at catcher are tied for the second-most in MLB … his .333 batting average ranks 10th in overall in the Majors and seventh in the NL … his 24 hits (22 as a catcher, two as a pinch-hitter) are the most among primary catchers in the Majors.
• His five caught stealings are tied for third in baseball while allowing six stolen bases, a 60 percent stolen base rate that is second in the Majors among catchers who have seen 10 or more attempts … his only two errors behind the dish came on two catcher’s interference calls on Opening Day.
KBOOM
• Kris Bryant hit two consecutive home runs on Monday and Tuesday, his first two home runs at Coors Field as a member of the Rockies … hit each of his first six home runs with the Rockies came on the road, including his first home run of the season last Friday at Seattle.
• Bryant is slashing .288/.360/.450 on the season and has reached base safely in 19 of 21 games … has reached base safely in 56 of 63 total games in his Rockies career, slashing .300/.370/.467.
THE HOTTEST OF CORNERS
• Ryan McMahon has made his last six starts at third base after starting his first 17 at second base in place of the injured Brendan Rodgers (2022 2B Gold Glove winner) … McMahon was a finalist for the Gold Glove at third base in both 2021 and 2022.
• At the plate since returning to the hot corner, McMahon is 8-for-24 (.333) with three doubles, one home run and four RBI.
ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #26 AUSTIN GOMBER LHP
HI, I’M AUSTIN
• Winter Garden, Fla., native enters his 10th professional season, his fifth in the Majors and his third with the Rockies.
• Acquired by Colorado, along with four other players including INF Elehuris Montero in exchange for 3B Nolan Arenado.
• Originally selected by St. Louis in the fourth round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Florida Atlantic University.
TURN THE TIDE
• Has been on the losing side of each of his first four starts this season, the eighth time a Rockies starter has started 0-4 through their first four starts of a season … first since Roy Oswalt (five straight, June 20-Sept. 14) and Jeff Manship (four straight, Aug.8-24) in 2013.
• His 12.12 ERA (16.1 IP, 22 ER) is the second-highest in baseball (highest in the NL) among pitchers with at least four starts.
• His .712 opponents slugging percentage is the second-highest in baseball behind teammate José Ureña (.821) … .356 opponent’s batting average is the third-highest in baseball.
• Logged a quality start in his first outing of the season, Apri 2 at San Diego, allowing three runs on four hits (two home runs) across six innings in a 3-1 Rockies loss.
LAST TIME OUT
• Last Wednesday against the Pirates, allowed nine runs on nine hits in two innings, walking three and walking one … seventh time in Rockies history a starter went two or fewer innings and gave up at least nine earned runs (last: José Ureña, Aug. 24, 2022 vs. Texas).
• Gomber also allowed nine earned runs over 1.2 innings on April 26, 2021 at San Francisco … John Thomson is the only other Rockies starter to allow exactly nine earned runs in a start of two innings (April 11, 1998 vs. Cincinnati).
ON GUARD
• Has faced Cleveland four times (one start), going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA (8.0 IP, 6 ER) with three walks and six strikeouts.
• In his lone start on June 15, 2022 against the Guardians at Coors Field, took the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings, walking one and striking out four.
• Today’s start will be his first appearance at Progressive Field.
ON YOUR LEFT
• Since joining the Rockies, has held left-handed hitters to a .228/.282/.388 slash line with 10 home runs allowed.
• Held opposing left-handed hitters to a .221 average last season (30-for136), the lowest lefty opponent average by a Rockies left-hander since Kyle Freeland in 2018 (.185) and the ninth-lowest in a single season in franchise history (min. 140 batters faced).
GO GO GOMBER
• Last season, made 17 starts and 16 appearances out of the bullpen in his second season as a Rockie … went 5-7 (Rockies 9-24) while posting a combined 5.56 ERA (124.2 IP, 77 ER) across his 33 appearances … his 124.2 innings pitched set a new career-high.
• Began the season in the Rockies rotation, making 12 starts through June 15 and going 3-7 with a 6.43 ERA (63.0 IP, 45 ER), 20 walks and 49 strikeouts.
• Moved to the bullpen at the end of June and made two relief appearances June 22 at Miami and June 26 at Minnesota … allowed four runs over a combined 4.1 innings (8.31 ERA).
• Went back to the rotation in July and made four starts prior to the All-Star Break, going 2-0 with a 4.15 ERA (21.2 IP, 10 ER), four walks and 15 strikeouts … allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last three starts prior to the Break, pitching to a 3.38 ERA (16.0 IP, 6 ER).
• Returned to the bullpen following the All-Star Break and posted a 4.68 ERA (32.2 IP, 17 ER) with seven walks and 24 strikeouts across 14 relief outings in the second half.
START IT UP
• As a starter in 2022, went 5-7 (Rockies 7-10) across 17 starts while pitching to a 5.75 clip (87.2 IP, 56 ER) … walked 25 and struck out 68 while opponents hit .292 (101-for-346) with 13 home runs … seven of his starts were quality.
• Posted a 5.72 ERA (50.1 IP, 32 ER) with 14 walks and 32 strikeouts across nine starts at Coors Field … 5.79 ERA (37.1 IP, 24 ER) with 11 walks and 36 strikeouts in eight starts on the road.
• 8.68 SO/9 on the road compared to a 5.72 SO/9 at home.
BACK IT UP
• Made 16 appearances out of the bullpen in 2022, his most since 18 relief outings as a rookie with St. Louis in 2018 … posted a 5.11 ERA 37.0 IP, 1 ER) out of the bullpen with nine walks and 27 strikeouts … opponents hit .254 (36-for-142) with seven home runs.
• Made 12 appearances of two or more innings, four with three or more innings and one career-long outing of 4.2 IP (Aug. 24 vs. TEX).
• In his outing against Texas on Aug. 24, became the first Rockie in history to toss 4.2 or more scoreless frames out of the ‘pen while allowing one or fewer hits.
HAPPY HOME VS. ROCKY ROAD
• In 51 career home games (26 starts) with both St. Louis and Colorado, is 11-9 with a 4.51 ERA (171.2 IP, 86 ER).
• Since joining the Rockies, has gone 8-7 with a 4.79 ERA (126.0 IP, 67 ER) at Coors Field with 33 walks and 90 strikeouts … in 2021, went 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA (47.1 IP, 11 ER) in nine starts at home, posting a 0.95 WHIP.
• Since 2020, is 8-6 with a 3.86 ERA (137.2 IP, 59 ER) in 34 games (21 starts) in his home ballpark … in road games through the same span, is 7-13 with a 5.70 ERA (142.0 IP, 90 ER) in 38 games (25 starts).
WALK IT OUT…OR DON’T
• 2.45 BB/9 in 2022 was the lowest of his career while his 2.79 SO/BB ratio was his highest … BB/9 was the sixth-lowest among National League lefties and his SO/BB ratio ranked 10th (min. 120.0 IP).
• Did not issue a walk in seven-straight relief outings from Aug. 31-Sept. 29, the longest single-season streak by a Rockies lefty since James Pazos from Sept. 6-28, 2019 (seven games).
• Has walked three or more batters 11 times in 43 starts since joining the Rockies, going 0-9 with an 11.45 ERA (41.2 IP, 53 ER) in those starts … has walked two or fewer batters 33 times over that span, going 14-11 with a 4.20 ERA (177.2 IP, 83 ER) in those starts.
EARLY GOINGS
• Of his 52 career Minor League starts in which he pitched six or more innings, 49 were quality starts and 13 were scoreless.
• Made his Major League debut on June 2, 2018 vs. Pittsburgh and pitched three scoreless, hitless innings of relief for the Cardinals.
• In 2018, became the first Cardinals rookie left-hander since 1912 to win five games in the month of August … did not allow a hit to the first 14 right-handed batters he faced prior to June 25 (Rajai Davis, ninth-inning single).
THIS N’ THAT
• Did not allow more than five hits in any of his first eight starts at Coors Field in 2021 and allowed five hits just once (Aug. 7 vs. Miami) … recorded eight-straight starts allowing five or fewer hits at home, tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history (Ubaldo Jiménez, 2008).
• Posted a 3.27 ERA with 238 strikeouts in his collegiate career at Florida Atlantic University.
• First team All-Sun Belt Conference during his junior year with a league-leading 2.97 ERA.
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS AVOID SWEEP AS BATS COME ALIVE
After dropping the first two tilts of the series to Miami in Saturday’s DH, the Guardians rebounded in the finale with a balanced 7-4 victory over the Marlins on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.
The win was highlighted by a sterling MLB debut from 24-yearold left-hander LOGAN ALLEN, who carved out 8 K’s across 6.0 frames to neutralize the Marlins offense (6.0IP, 5H, 1R-ER, 1BB, 8SO, 1HR, 86 pitches)…Allen’s lone blemish came on a 2-out solo homer by Jon Berti in the 3rd, as the southpaw permitted just 6 baserunners with Jorge Soler (1B/2B/BB) reaching 3x; Allen retired 8 of first 9 he faced prior to Berti HR and struck out the side around a one-out walk in his 6th and final frame …with Cleveland leading 6-1, Avisaíl García tightened the screws with a 3-run homer off JAMES KARINCHAK in the 8th inning before EMMANUEL CLASE recorded a perfect 9th for his 7th save. » AMED ROSARIO (4-5, 2B, 3B, 4R) & JOSH BELL (3-4, 2B, HR, 2RBI, BB, R) each fell one knock shy of hitting for the cycle, while JOSÉ RAMÍREZ collected a game-high 4RBI…Ramírez (3, 2-run shot) & Bell (2, solo) combined for Cleveland’s first back-to-back homers of ’23 in the club’s 3-run 3rd off Jesús Luzardo (4.1IP, 8H, 4R-ER, BB, 6SO, 2HR, 96 pitches)…both players also tallied RBI-doubles later in the contest, while Ramírez added a sac fly.
The Clevelanders are 1-2 half-way thru current 6-game homestand against Miami (1-2) & Colorado (3 games)…club has dropped 6 of first 9 tilts at Progressive Field…Guardians (11-11) have lost 5 of last 7 overall, but still hold sole possession of 2nd place in AL Central standings, 1.0 game behind Minnesota (12-10).
MILE HIGH IN THE LAND
The Guardians play host to the Colorado Rockies for a 3-game set at Progressive Field…the two clubs last squared off from June 14-16, 2022, with Cleveland sweeping the Rockies at Coors Field… the Guardians are 15-13 all-time against Colorado, holding a 10-4 record at Progressive Field and a 5-9 record on the road…the two squads first met in 2002…Cleveland is 5-4 all-time in season series against Colorado and have won 8 of the last 11 matchups.
JOSH AND JOSÉ’S BIG DAY
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ and JOSH BELL teamed up for back-to-back home runs during Cleveland’s 3-run rally in the third inning yesterday, marking the first instance of back-to-back homers for the Guardians in 2023…the Guardians improved to 5-0 when Ramírez and Bell each contribute one-or-more RBI in a contest.
Bell fell a triple shy of recording the cycle and drove in a pair of runs in Sunday’s contest, recording his first 3-hit game since September 10, 2022 with San Diego…also marked his first multi-RBI game since August 21, 2022 with San Diego…after going 3-for38 to start the season, the switch-hitter is 15-for-41 (.366) with 8 doubles, 2 home runs and 8 RBI over his last 11 games…has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, slashing .366/.422/.707 during that stretch…from March 30 to April 10, Bell was hitting .105 (2-for19) against fastballs; since April 11, he is batting .455 (10-for-22) in at-bats ending with a fastball.
Ramírez tied Charlie Jamieson (296) for 7th-most doubles in franchise history yesterday with a two-bagger in the 8th inning… his 2-run home run (3) in the 3rd inning gave him his 7th go-ahead RBI on the season, ranking 2nd in MLB behind Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena (8)…he is currently in a 3-way tie with Brook Jacoby and Jack Graney for 20th-most hits in club history (1,178)…his 90 career multi-extra-base hit games is one away from tying Manny Ramirez and Ken Keltner for 6th in franchise history.
AMED IS 4 REAL
AMED ROSARIO fell a home run shy of the cycle in yesterday’s contest, turning in his 17th career 4-hit game…with his 4 runs scored, he became the first Guardian player to have 4 hits and score 4 times in a game since STEVEN KWAN on April 10 of last season…Rosario’s 12 4-hit games since the start of 2021 leads MLB ahead of LAD’s Freddie Freeman (10)…the shortstop’s 33 triples since the start of 2018 leads MLB during that span.
4-HIT GAMES, SINCE 2021
NAME TEAM # OF GAMES
Amed Rosario CLE 12
Freddie Freeman ATL/LAD 10
J.D. Martinez BOS/LAD 7
Luis Arraez MIN/MIA 6
Bo Bichette TOR 6
OUR BRAND OF BASEBALL
With two steals Sunday, Cleveland maintains the MLB lead with 28 stolen bases, three swipes ahead of Baltimore’s 25…this marks just the 11th time in club history and the first time since tallying 29 steals in 1996 that Cleveland has 28+ steals in the first 22 games of the season…the last MLB team before the Guards to tally 28+ steals through the team’s first 22 games of a season were the 2015 Houston Astros (29).
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ drove in Cleveland’s 5th run yesterday via the sacrifice fly…the Guardians are first in the AL and T2nd in MLB behind Pittsburgh (11) with 9 sacrifice flies…since the start of 2019, Cleveland’s 159 sac flies rank 2nd in the AL and 3rd in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (164) and Houston (172)…JOSH BELL (21) is T9th in MLB during that stretch.
Cleveland is pacing MLB with 335 infield hits since the start of 2021, 23 ahead of Tampa Bay (322)…MYLES STRAW is T3rd in MLB over that period, legging out 48 infield hits…he is T2nd with 4 other players in MLB in 2023 with 6 infield hits, trailing NYM’s Jeff McNeil.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Cleveland scored 4-or-more runs yesterday for the first time since April 16 at Washington when they scored 6 runs…the Guardians are now 8-1 when scoring 4-or-more runs and 3-10 when scoring 3-or-fewer runs in 2023…Cleveland was 87-13 (.857) when scoring 4+ runs in 2022, holding the 4th-best win percentage in MLB last season behind New York-NL (.916), Los Angeles-NL (.890) and Houston (.857)…since TERRY FRANCONA took over in 2013, the Guardians also possess the 4th-best win percentage when scoring 4+ runs, trailing New York-AL, Los Angeles-NL and St. Louis.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – #47 CAL QUANTRILL RHP
TONIGHT’S START
The 28-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season, second at home, this evening in the opening matchup of a 3-game series against the Colorado Rockies…is pitching on 4 days rest after tossing a quality start on April 19 in a 3-2 win at Detroit…the Guardians are 3-1 in Quantrill’s starts this season.
LAST TIME OUT
He last toed the rubber on April 19, earning the win in a 3-2 victory at Detroit…turned in his second consecutive 6.0-inning quality start and his sixth career quality start against Detroit (6.0IP, 4H, 0R/ER, 1BB, 4SO, 0HR, 83 pitches)…Quantrill threw 1-2-3 innings in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th innings…the Tigers posed the biggest threat in the sixth inning with an infield single and a double…Quantrill got out of the jam, but exited his start after six innings out of precaution after he was struck on the leg by a Kerry Carpenter line drive while recording the final out of the inning.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
Is 1-1 with a 4.64 ERA (11ER/21.1IP) in 6 career games (3 starts) vs. Colorado…Quantrill was tagged with the loss in his last start against the Rockies on September 15, 2019 at Coors Field when he was with San Diego, allowing 4R/ER on 6 hits, including one home run, with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks…his last appearance against Colorado was with San Diego at Coors Field on August 30, 2020, where he provided one inning of shutout and hitless relief, adding a strikeout to his name.
He is 5-5 with a 5.07 ERA (49ER/87.0IP) in 20 career games/15 career starts against the NL West…his teams have won 3 of 4 and 5 of the last 7 games he has appeared in against the NL West.
PROGRESSIVE FIELD’S PRO
In 45 games/35 starts at Progressive Field, Quantrill possesses a 14-1 record with 211.0 innings pitched on top of a 2.94 ERA, paired together with 151 strikeouts…among pitchers with 35-or-more starts at Progressive Field since it opened in 1994, he possesses the ballpark’s highest win percentage (.933), nearly 13% ahead of Orel Hershiser (21-5, .808)…in Quantrill’s last start at Progressive Field on April 8 against Seattle (5.0IP, 7H, 3R/ER, 1BB, 3SO), he suffered his first career regular season loss in Cleveland.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Over the last three seasons of home starts (2021-23), Quantrill leads MLB in win percentage of pitchers with at least 10 decisions (.938)…his 209.1 innings pitched since 2021 rank T5th in MLB with New York-AL’s Gerrit Cole, and he ranks T6th in MLB with 15 home wins since 2021…ground balls have been a key to Quantrill’s success at home as he ranks T3rd in MLB with Kris Bubic at 23 GIDP and T7th in MLB with 275 ground balls induced since 2021.
During his 2022 campaign, Quantrill (9-0 at home) was the only MLB pitcher to finish unbeaten with at least 9 wins at home…he and Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff (8-0 at home) were the only two qualified pitchers to finish unbeaten at home…ranked 2nd in MLB/1st in the AL with both 112.1 innings pitched and 73 runs of support (behind St. Louis’ Adam Wainright, 84).
CRAFTY CAL
Through his first four starts, Quantrill has relied heavily on his sinker as he has thrown it with over half his pitches this season… his sinker has kept hitters guessing as he has thrown 97 of them to left-handers and 99 to right-handers, holding them both to a combined .256 batting average…hitters have timed up his cutter, however, as the .313 opposing batting average is up from the .235 average he held opposing hitters to last season.
QUANTRILL’S PITCH ARSENAL, 2023
Pitch Type % MPH Opp BA
Sinker 53.1 93.0 .256
Cutter 29.3 88.3 .313
Changeup 8.7 85.9 .250
Curveball 2.4 83.8 .250
