Friday, March 29, 2024
5-Hour Energy

MLB Preview: Colorado Rockies (12-20) at New York Mets (16-16)

COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:

THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
• The Colorado Rockies embark on the fourth road trip of the season with a six-game east coast swing starting in Queens (tonight-Sunday) and finishing in Pittsburgh Monday-Wednesday … coming off a three-game sweep of the the Milwaukee Brewers after going 1-2 against the Diamondbacks to start the homestand.

• The sweep of the Brewers was the Rockies first sweep since June 17-19, 2022 vs. San Diego, snapping a franchise record of 38-consecutive series without a winning sweep.

THE BIG PARK
• The Rockies have won four games in a row for the first time since Sept. 6-10, 2022 … are 6-3 through their last nine, a .667 winning percentage that is tied for the third-best mark in the NL since April 24.

• Across that span, Rockies starters have posted a 3.89 ERA (44.0 IP, 19 ER) with 10 walks and 31 strikeouts while hitters are slashing .284/.342/.436 while going 28-for-74 (.378) with runners in scoring position … prior to this nine-game stretch, Rockies hitters were batting .220 (42-for-191) with RISP.

• Overall, the Rockies .375 winning percentage is second-to-last in the National League ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals (.313) … is tied for the third-lowest in franchise history through 32 games with the 2008, 2015 and 2021 clubs.

CONCRETE JUNGLE
• The Rockies went 2-5 against the Mets in 2022, dropping two of three at Coors Field May 21-22 and three of four at Citi Field Aug. 25-28 … have dropped 10 of 14 contests against the Metropolitans since 2021.

• OF Kris Bryant has slashed .308/.384/.571 in 41 career games against New York-NL, tallying nine doubles, one tirple, 10 home runs and 24 RBI … his batting average and .955 career OPS against the Mets rank fourth among active players (min. 40 games).

APRIL SHOWERS
• Colorado finished the month of April with a 9-20 record, their first time in franchise history recording 20 losses in the month of April … have lost 20 games in a month six times in franchise history prior to April 2023: three times in May (1993, 22 games; 2011, 21 games; 2005, 20 games), once in June (2014, 20 games), once in July (2000, 22 games) and once in Sept. (2012, 20 games).

LITTLE TOE
• Ezequiel Tovar is riding a career-best seven-game hitting streak and is 11-for-35 (.314) with five extra-base hits through his last 10 contests, reaching base safely in all 10 and hitting safely in eight … spoiled the Brewers’ shutout on Thursday with a two-RBI double in the seventh inning … at 21-years-and-276-days-old, he is the youngest Rockie to record an on base streak of at least 10 games since Robert Mejia reached in 11-straight from July 22-Aug. 3, 1993.

• Recorded his first home run of the season Tuesday, his first career home run at Coors Field (second overall).

HERE’S THE GRICHUATION
• Randal Grichuk went 2-for-4 in each of his first three games of the season after being reinstated from the injured list on April 29, tied for the longest multi-hit streak of his career … underwent offseason surgery on a bilateral sports hernia, missing all of Spring Training … it was the seventh time in franchise history that a Rockies player has begun his season with three-straight multi-hit games, the first time since Mark Reynolds did so April 3-5, 2017.

• Went 1-for-2 with two walks Wednesday night and is 7-for-14 with a .500/.563/.643 slash line overall since being reinstated.

CHUCK (STILL) NAZTY
• With his one run scored on Sunday, Charlie Blackmon broke his tie with Larry Walker for second on the all-time Rockies runs scored list at 893 … Todd Helton ranks first in Rockies history with 1401.

• Blackmon’s 293 career doubles are four short of tying Walker for the second-most in franchise history.

• Blackmon’s home run in the first inning on April 25 at Cleveland was his 40th career lead-off home run … his 40 lead-off home runs rank ninth all-time (Brady Anderson’s 44 rank eighth) … his 463 ft. home run Wednesday night was the third-longest of his career in the Statcast era (longest: 477 ft, Sept. 7, 2017 vs. Chicago-AL).

WICKED
• Colorado’s 21 errors are the fourth-most in the Majors this season and their .982 fielding percentage is the fifth-lowest … have allowed 20 unearned runs through its first 32 games, tied with the Angels and White Sox for the most in baseball.

• The Rockies have not committed an error in four-straight games for the first time this season and first time since not logging a miscue in four games Oct. 2-5, 2022.

COAT OF ARMS
• Jake Bird ranks second in the Majors with 22.0 relief innings pitched (first in the NL) and is tied for sixth among relievers with 22 strikeouts (tied for third in the NL) … has posted a 0.55 ERA (16.2 IP, 1 ER) with four walks and 18 strikeouts over his last 10 appearances since April 11 … career-high 13.0 innings without an earned run snapped on Sunday.

• Brent Suter tossed a scoreless inning of relief Wednesday night … his 0.98 ERA (18.1 IP, 2 ER) is the ninth-lowest in franchise history through a player’s first 12 games (min. 10 IP) to begin their Rockies career and lowest since Adam Ottavino’s 0.69 ERA (13.0 IP, 1 ER) in 2012.

ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #49 ANTONIO SENZATELA RHP
SENZ IT
• The right-hander made 19 starts in his sixth season with the Rockies, going 3-7 (Rockies 8-11) with a 5.07 ERA (92.1 IP, 52 ER) and nine quality starts … walked 23 and struck out 54 while opponents batted a career-high .349 (133-for-381) against him.

• Signed a five-year contract extension on Oct. 5, 2021 that covers the 2022-26 seasons.

• Originally signed by the Rockies as a non-drafted international free agent on July 8, 2011 from Valencia, Venezuela.

• Prior to his return today, made two rehab starts with Triple-A Albuquerque, going 0-1 with a 9.95 ERA (6.1 IP, 7 ER), striking out seven and walking three.

BANDAGED
• Suffered a torn left ACL in his final start of the season on Aug. 18 at St. Louis … prior to this start, had two stints on the 15-day injured list, the first coming May 17-June 1 with a lower back strain and the second from July 2-22 with right shoulder inflammation.

• Went 2-2 with a 4.55 ERA (29.2 IP, 15 ER) across seven starts prior to being placed on the IL for the first time … 1-3 with a 5.34 clip (30.1 IP, 18 ER) across six starts between IL stints … 0-2 with a 5.29 ERA (32.1 IP, 19 ER) across his last six starts of the year.

• Not counting the COVID-19 IL, his only season with at least two injured list stints came in 2018 with a right middle finger blister (July 13-22) and right shoulder inflammation (Aug. 5-18).

HEALTHY
• Had tossed at least six innings in four consecutive starts prior to tearing his ACL Aug. 18 (all quality starts), pitching to a 3.86 ERA (25.2 IP, 11 ER) … during that span, only allowed two home runs (0.70 HR/9).

• Logged eight starts of six or more innings in 2022, all of them quality … recorded a 3.06 ERA (50.0 IP, 17 ER) in these outings while allowing an average of 0.54 home runs per nine … Rockies went 5-3 across these starts.

MEET THE METS
• Is 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA (25.0 IP, 8 ER) in five career outings four starts) against the Mets … 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA (10.0 IP, 3 ER) with one home run, three strikeouts and four walks in his career at Citi Field.

• Did not face the Mets in 2022 … last faced New York-NL May 27, 2021, taking the loss at Citi Field after allowing two runs on four hits over four innings.

ROAD WOES
• Went 0-5 (Rockies 1-7) with a 6.41 ERA (39.1 IP, 28 ER), nine walks and 29 strikeouts in eight road starts in 2022 … the Rockies lost seven of Senzatela’s eight road starts, the lone win came Aug. 6 at Arizona after a season-high seven innings where he allowed two runs on nine hits with no walks and two strikeouts … received eight total runs of support across his eight road starts, three of them in his July 22 start at Milwaukee.

• Is 1-12 in 21 road starts 2021-22 (Rockies 4-17), pitching to a 5.55 clip (105.1 IP, 65 ER) with 27 walks and 83 strikeouts … opponents have slashed .322/.367/.483 with 12 home runs during that span.

• Since 2021, has received a total of 34 runs of support on the road, a 2.91 run support average that ranks as the second-lowest in the Majors across that span (min. 20 GS).

• Has logged a quality start in nine of his last 15 road outings dating back to July 7, 2021 at Arizona (1-8, 5.26 ERA).

HOME HAPPENINGS
• Was 3-2 (Rockies 7-4) with a 4.08 ERA (53.0 IP, 24 ER) in his 11 starts at Coors Field in 2022 … had a quality start in four of his final five outings after allowing six runs on 13 hits in the first game of the June 1 doubleheader against Miami … outside of that outing, would have posted a 3.40 ERA (47.2 IP, 18 ER) at Coors Field this season.

• Has gone 5-2 (Rockies 14-7) with a 3.71 ERA (116.1 IP, 48 ER) over his last 21 starts at Coors Field since May 16, 2021 … has allowed just seven home runs at home across that stretch, tied for the second-fewest in the Majors … 0.54 HR/9 at home ranks third in the Majors across the same stretch (min. 100.0 IP).

• Has not allowed more than one home run in a start at Coors Field since Sept. 16, 2019, a stretch of 32 consecutive home starts without allowing multiple home runs, the second-longest streak in franchise history (longest: 41, Ubaldo Jimenez, 2008-2010).

• Finished 2021 with 0.50 home runs per nine innings through 12 starts at Coors Field (5 HR, 90.2 IP), the sixth-best single-season mark in franchise history (min. 12 GS) … fifth-best clip for any pitcher at home in the Majors.

BLACK, WHITE AND RED ALL OVER
• His .349 opponent batting average and 12.96 hits-per-nine-innings rate in 2022 were the highest mark among MLB starters while his .504 opponent slugging was the third-highest (min. 15 GS).

• Highest single-season opponent batting average in franchise history (min. 15 GS).

SHORT WALKS ON THE BEACH
• From July 1, 2021 to July 28, 2022, walked two or fewer batters across 28 starts, the longest streak in franchise history (previous: 24 starts, Jeff Francis, June 21, 2012-April 10, 2013) … snapped his streak with a three-walk outing on Aug. 1 at San Diego.

• Since 2020, his 2.04 BB/9 is the 11th-lowest in baseball, the seventh-lowest in the NL (min. 55 GS).

• Over that same span, Senzatela’s 5.58 SO/9 is the lowest in the Majors while his 50.9 ground ball percentage ranks 12th in the Majors, seventh in the National League.

MOVING ON UP
• His 39 career wins tied with Kevin Ritz for the 11th-most in franchise history.

• His .659 winning percentage in Denver is the second-highest by any Rockies starter at home in franchise history (min. 40 GS), trailing Jorge De La Rosa (53-20, .726).

• His 447 career strikeouts rank 13th in franchise history, five from tying Adam Ottavino for 12th … one of 15 pitchers in Rockies history to record at least 400 strikeouts, including two other active Rockies (Germán Márquez and Kyle Freeland).

• 117 career starts are the 11th-most in franchise history … current Rockies teammates Márquez (4th, 173) and Freeland (T-5th, 156) have also started 100 games on the hill for Colorado … Aaron Cook is all-time franchise leader in games started with 206.

• Senzatela is 37-41 (Rockies 57-60) is his 117 career starts, posting a 4.91 ERA with 193 walks and 410 strikeouts … in 26 career games out of the bullpen, has gone 2-1 with a 4.39 ERA (41.0 IP, 20 ER), averaging 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings as a reliever … last appeared out of the bullpen on April 27, 2018 at Miami.

NEW YORK METS NOTES:

METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets fell to the Tigers, 2-0, in Detroit yesterday…The Mets were swept for the second time this year… Both sweeps have occurred on the road…The Mets have dropped nine of their last 11 games and five of their last six contests… Tonight, the Mets return home for three games against the Rockies…The Mets are off on Monday before hitting the road for a six-game road trip to Cincinnati (three games) and Washington D.C. ( three games).

SUGAR, SUGAR: Prior to tonight’s game, Edwin Díaz will receive the 2022 National League Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year trophy… Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner will present the trophy… In 2022, Diaz led major league relievers with 118 strikeouts…He struck out 118 of the 235 batters he faced, a rate of 50.2 percent, the third-best mark in major league history…Díaz was selected to his second All-Star Game and was named the NL Reliever of the Month three times…The right-handed pitcher recorded 32 saves and posted a 1.31 ERA.

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS DAY: Tomorrow, the In an effort to help end the stigma, the New York Mets will host Mental Health Awareness Day presented by Carelon…The day will help bring attention to the importance of mental health and wellness, while providing information and resources throughout the game…A ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Mets alumni, Bill Pulsipher…A former second-round draft pick of the New York Mets in 1991, Pulsipher has spoken publicly about his battle with anxiety and depression…Additionally, the Mets will honor several organizations as their Mental Health Heroes of the game, each representing one of the Mets Employee Resource Groups.

THE FRIENDLY GHOST: Kodai Senga has 32 strikeouts in 26.0 innings through his first five starts this year…According to Sportradar, that gives him the a 11.08 k/9 IP ratio…That is the third-best strikeout rate by a Mets rookie through their first five starts behind only Nolan Ryan and Dwight Gooden.

CITI SLICKERS: The Mets are 6-6 at Citi Field this year…The team’s 12 home games tied for the fewest in the major leagues…The team won 54 games at home last year…That was their highest total at Citi Field in franchise history…The last time the team won more than 50 games in New York was in 2000 when they went 55-26… Overall, the Mets went 54-27 at Citi Field…The team’s .667 winning percentage was the fourth-highest in team history…Only the 1988 (56-24, .700), 2000 and 1986 teams (both 55-26, .679) had a better home winning percentage.

ON THE ROX: Stalring Marte has hit .345 (74-209) with 47 runs, 10 doubles, four triples, seven home runs, 33 RBI and 11 walks in 53 career games against the Rockies…Pete Alonso has hit .344 (21-61) with eight runs, two doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI, three walks and a .623 SLG in 16 games against the Rockies…Brandon Nimmo, who grew up less than 100 miles from Coors Field has hit .309 (25-81) with 17 runs, a double, five home runs and 14 RBI and 12 walks in 23 games against the Rockies…Luis Guillorme is .625 (5-8) with two runs and two walks in nine games against Colorado.

TASTE THE ROCKIES: The Mets are set to play the Colorado Rockies for the first time this season…New York went 5-2 against Colorado last season including 3-1 at Citi Field…The Mets are 6-4 against the NL West in 2023.

BRETT THE MET: Over the last 12 contests, Brett Baty is batting .325 (13-40) with five runs, two doubles, two home runs, three RBI and four walks in that span…This comes after he went 1-8 in his first three games.

DOCTOR ROBERT-SON: David Robertson has appeared in 12 games and has allowed one run in 13.1 innings of work, good for a 0.68 ERA…He has allowed seven hits, three walks while striking out 18 in that span…He is holding left-handed hitters to a .120 (3-25) batting average this season…He has converted all six save opportunities he’s had this season…Overall, he has recorded 163 saves in his career…That is the seventh-most among active players.

JEFF McHITS: Jeff McNeil is batting .286 (32-112) with 13 runs, six
doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 RBI and 16 walks with a .398
OBP and a .411 SLG in 32 games this season…Since April 16, he has
raised his batting average from .212 to .286 and his OBP from .359
to .3988…His .398 OBP is the 12th-best in the majors and eighth-highest in the National League.

MULTIPLICITY: McNeil has recorded nine multi-hit games this season…He has 172 multi-hit games in his career, which places him 19th on the Mets all-time list…He has 62 multi-hit games since the start of last season, which is the third-most during that span behind Freddie Freeman (68) and Bo Bichette (67).

GUESS WHO’S BACH?: Over his last 15 games, Daniel Vogelbach is 12-37 (.324) with three runs, three doubles, one home run, nine RBI, six walks with a .419 OBP and a .486 SLG…He has posted a .405 OBP in 24 games this season, which is leads the team.

STEAL MY SUNSHINE: The Mets are tied for second with a 83.9% success rate in steals this season…The Mets are tied for fourth the NL with 26 steals this season…Starling Marte is tied for 10th in the majors and tied for sixth in the NL with nine steals…He ranks third among active players with 323 career SB…Only Elvis Andrus (338) and Billy Hamilton (326) have more.

A HIT’S A HIT: The Mets have collected 37 infield hits this season, which is the second-most in the majors…Last year, the Mets collected 186 infield hits, the fifth-most in franchise history and the third-most in MLB in 2022.

OUCH: The Mets have been plunked 29 times this season…That is tied for the third-most in the majors and tied with the San Francisco Giants for the most in the National League.

TAKE THE TRAIN TO THE GAME: With the expected large crowd at Citi Field on Sunday, May 7 and the 5 Boro Bike Tour scheduled to take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. traveling through the five NYC boroughs, the Mets encourage fans to avoid delays due to various local street closings by taking mass transit.

Fantasy Guru - Baseball

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