Thursday, March 28, 2024
Sports Gaming Monitor

MLB Preview: Colorado Rockies (24-30) at Arizona Diamondbacks (30-23)

COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:

I THINK WE’VE MET BEFORE

  • The Colorado Rockies embark on a seven-game road trip beginning this afternoon against Arizona … play four games at Chase Field before traveling to Kansas City for three games, their first games at Kauffman Stadium since 2017.
  • The Rockies are coming off of a 5-2 homestand against the Miami Marlins (3-1) and New York Mets (2-1) … beat the Mets 10-7 on Saturday and 11-10 on Sunday, the second and third times this season the club has logged a win despite allowing at least seven runs (3-17).
  • The Rockies have gone 5-5 so far in their 17-game stretch without an off-day since May 19, their longest stretch without an off day this season … their next off day will come following this road trip on June 5.
  • Colorado is 17-12 all-time on Memorial Day with wins in each of their last three on the holiday … have not played on the road on Memorial Day since 2015.

DRY HEAT

  • Colorado has won six of their last eight series since May 2 and seven of their last 10 series since April 24 … had lost or split each of their first seven series of the season prior to this stretch.
  • The Rockies have gone 16-10 (.615) since April 30, the second-best record in the NL over that span behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (17-9, .654) … the NL West has the four best records in the NL since April 30, with San Francisco third at 16-11 (.593) and Arizona fourth at 14-11 (.560).
  • Coming off of a 7-20 April in which they slashed .243/.304/.367, the Rockies are slashing .276/.338/.443 in May while going 15-10 this month … are hitting .361 (21-for-205) with runners in scoring position in May after they hit .251 (61-for-243) with runners in scoring position in April.

WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO

  • Yesterday’s win was the 441st of Bud Black’s Rockies career (2017-2023), passing Don Baylor for the second-most managerial wins in franchise history … Baylor, the Rockies’ first manager in franchise history, went 440-469 in six seasons at the helm from 1993-98 … Clint Hurdle holds the Rockies record for managerial wins, holding a 534-625 record in parts of eight seasons from 2002-09.

BABY GOT BACKSTOP

  • Rockies catcher Elias Díaz ranks tied for third among NL position players with 2.3 WAR (Baseball Reference), trailing Ronald Acuña (3.1) and
    Freddie Freeman (2.5) … his 1.0 defensive WAR ranks fifth
    in the Majors, tied for second in the NL.
  • Díaz’s .333 batting average (52-for-156) is tied for fourth in the Majors … his .374 average (34-for-91) average at home is tied with Freeman for the highest in the Majors while his .455 (20-for-44) average with runners in scoring position ranks fourth the Majors.
  • Has appeared in 45 games at catcher, the second-most in the Majors … his 10 catcher caught stealing are third in the Majors, while his 40.7 caught stealing percentage ranks second (min. 20 games).

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY

  • Charlie Blackmon has hit in a season-high nine straight-games, going 12-for-35 (.343) with four doubles, one triple, two home runs and nine runs scored over that span.
  • Blackmon has reached base in 18-straight games since May 6, slashing .318/.365/.461 over that span … it is his longest on-base streak since a 31-game string in 2019.

THE VALLEY

  • The Rockies are facing Arizona for the second time this season, the first time in Phoenix … dropped two of three to the Diamondbacks at Coors Field April 28-30.
  • Colorado is 11-11 against Arizona over the last two seasons, 21-20 since 2021, 26-25 since 2020 and 64-63 since 2016.
  • The Rockies went 5-5 at Chase Field in 2022, including taking three of four here July 7-10.
  • Charlie Blackmon is a career .323/.373/.517 hitter in 167 games against Arizona with 39 doubles, six triples and 25 home runs … Ryan McMahon has slashed .298/.360/.571 with 16 doubles and 17 home runs in 77 career games against Arizona.

THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?

  • Outfielder Jurickson Profar holds an active 35-game on-base streak since April 15, the longest active streak in the Majors and the second-longest streak this season, trailing Yordan Álvarez (36 games) … it is tied for the seventh-longest streak in franchise history, the longest since Connor Joe also had a 35-game streak in 2022 … the last Rockies player with an on-base streak of 36 games or longer was DJ LeMahieu’s 38-game streak in 2016.
  • Profar is slashing .264/.344/.421 through the streak with 18 walks … over his last 18 games since May 7, is slashing .314/.364/.543 with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBI and eight multi-hit games.

ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #51 KARL KAUFFMANN RHP
KAUFFMANN, KARL KAUFFMANN

  • Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native makes his third Major League start today and first against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
  • Originally selected in the Competitive Balance Round B of the 2019 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Michigan.

LAST TIME OUT

  • In his second Big League start, and first at home, took the loss on Wednesday to the Marlins after allowing five runs over 4.1 innings, striking out two and walking three.
  • Tossed 82 pitches in the game, three fewer than in his first Major League start at Texas … did not allow a home run in his outing at Coors.

THERE’S ONLY ONE 22,935th

  • Became the 22,935th player in Major League Baseball history when he made his debut on May 19 in Texas.
  • Also became the first starting pitcher to debut for the Rockies since Ryan Feltner on Sept. 5, 2021 … is the 10th starting pitcher used by the Rockies this season.
  • Took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits over 4.1 innings, striking out four and walking two.
  • Struck out Marcus Semien, the first batter he faced, for his first Major League strikeout … would go on to also strike out Adolis Garcia, Leody Taveras and Jonah Heim.
  • Tossed three clean innings before allowing two runs in the fourth on a Garcia home run … allowed three more runs in the fifth before exiting the game with one out.

SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE

  • In his two Big League starts, is holding opposing left-handed hitters to a .188/.235/.313 slash line while right-handers are slashing .526/.600/.789.
  • Has gotten lefties to ground into three double plays while right-handers have yet to record a GIDP.
  • Opposing hitters are batting .200 (3-for-15) the first time through the lineup against the right-hander, with the average doubling to .400 (6-for-15) the second time through and doubling again to .800 (2-for-5) the third time through.
  • Has not allowed a hit on pitches 16-30 thus far in a Major League game.

HERE’S THE LATEST

  • Has made eight starts this season with Triple-A Albuquerque, going 2-3 with a 7.78 ERA (37.0 IP, 32 ER) with 12 walks and 26 strikeouts … tossed his second quality start of the year last time out at Las Vegas on May 10, allowing two runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings, walking none and striking out five.
  • Holds a combined 6.68 ERA (101.0 IP, 75 ER) over 21 starts in two seasons of Triple-A ball, walking 57 and striking out 86 while opponents have hit .298 against him (124-for-416).

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:

HERE’S THE STORY
♦ The D-backs’ 30 wins are the third most in the NL, behind the Dodgers (32) and Braves (31)…the D-backs’ 24 wins vs. NL opponents are second behind the Dodgers (29) and ahead of the Rockies (22).

♦ Arizona is 5-2 in their last 7 day games and 12-8 overall.

♦ The D-backs are second in the NL West (23 days in/tied for first place from April 2-30).

♦ The D-backs won their last series @ Rockies (2-1) from April 28-30 and are 5-3 in their last 8 games vs. Colorado.

ROSTER MOVES
♦ The D-backs made the following roster moves:

  • Reinstated OF Kristian Robinson from the restricted list and optioned to Single-A Visalia.
  • Designated RHP Peter Solomon for assignment.

DAY GAME #3
♦ The D-backs play their third straight day game today (previous: 4:15 pm AZ on Saturday and 1:10 p.m. AZ Sunday).

♦ The last time the D-backs played 3+ consecutive day games was May 20-22, 2022…they also played 5 straight day games from April 13-19, 2022, which tied for the most in franchise history (also: April 28-May 2, 2010 and July 27-31, 2005).

MORE DAY BASEBALL
♦ Ketel Marte is hitting .367 (11-for-30)/.991 OPS with 2 homers, 4 RBI and 2 walks in his last 8 day games.

♦ Corbin Carroll is hitting .317 (13-for-41)/1.120 OPS with 5 doubles, 3 homers, 6 RBI, 10 walks and 6 stolen bases in his last 13 day games.

♦ Gabriel Moreno is hitting .333 (8-for-24) with 2 RBI and 1 stolen base in 10 day games.

♦ Geraldo Perdomo is hitting .313 (15-for-48)/.879 OPS with 4 doubles, 1 homer, 8 RBI and 7 walks.

KETEL EXTENDS TO 27
♦ Ketel Marte’s career-best 27-game on-base streak (since April 26) is the second longest active on-base streak in the Majors, behind Jurickson Profar/COL (35), and tied for the third longest by a D-back since 2014 (also: Paul Goldschmidt/2015, David Peralta/2017, Nick Ahmed/2019)… in the span, is hitting .295 AVG/.369 OBP with 1 double, 2 triples, 5 homers, 15 RBI, 12 walks and 2 HBP.

MOUND NOTABLES
♦ Since May 20, D-backs starters have allowed the fewest homers (3) and runs (19) in the NL while their 3.95 ERA (18 ER in 41.0 IP) ranks second, behind the Marlins (3.72).

♦ Since May 20, the D-backs’ bullpen boasts a 2.32 ERA (8 ER in 31.0 IP), fourth best in MLB, behind the Giants (0.24), Guardians (1.52) and Twins (2.22).

MARVELOUS MERRILL
♦ Yesterday, Merrill Kelly collected his fourth win in his last 5 starts…his 4 wins are tied for the most in May (also: Lance Lynn/CWS, Jon Gray/TEX and Zach Efl in/TB).

♦ Yesterday, Kelly also collected a career-high 6 strikeouts looking (previous: 5, Sept. 20, 2019 @ Padres), 1 shy of tying the franchise record (7, Wade Miley/2014 & Dan Haren/2009) and tied for the most by a starting pitcher this season (7, Zach Efl in/TB). [Source: Sportradar]

♦ It marked his fourth career start with 10+ strikeouts… Kelly is 1 of 4 MLB pitchers with 2+ 10-strikeout performances in May (also: Spencer Strider/ATL [3], Shohei Ohtani/LAA [2] and Hunter Greene/CIN [2]).

HIT, HIT, HIT, HIT, HIT
♦ Yesterday, the D-backs’ collected 5 consecutive hits in an inning (first inning), marking the second time they reached the feat this season (also: 7th inn., April 8 vs. Dodgers).

♦ The last time Arizona had 5+ straight hits in the first inning was Aug. 29, 2017 vs. Dodgers…it marked the seventh time in D-backs franchise history with 5+ hits in the first inning (most: 6, 6/21/10 vs. Yankees). [source: Elias Sports Bureau].

LEWIS COLLECTS 2-HOMER GAME
♦ Last night, Kyle Lewis slugged 2 home runs as the designated hitter with Triple-A Reno…has collected 1 double, 3 home runs and 10 RBI in his 5 games played.

STARTING PITCHER – RHP RYNE NELSON ♦ #19
AT A GLANCE: Second season with D-backs…made Opening Day roster and rotation…made 3 starts in 2022.

  • D-backs’ second-round pick (56th overall) in the 2019 draft out of the University of Oregon.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The D-backs are 3-0 in his last 3 bids.

  • Has a 0.79 ERA (1 ER in 11.1 IP) with 4 hits allowed in his last 2 starts.
  • Has exited 7 of his 10 starts with the lead or tied.

LAST START: Posted his fourth consecutive no decision on May 23 @ Phillies…tossed 6.0 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 4 strikeouts.

VS. ROCKIES: Made his lone start on April 30 @ Coors Field (L; 6 ER in 4.0 IP).

PITCH TRACKING: Opposing batters are hitting .190 (8-for-42) with 8 strikeouts off his cutter and .143 (2-for-14) with 3 strikeouts off his changeup.

FIRST PITCH SUCCESS: His first-pitch swing (23.2 to 30.1) and first-pitch strike (53.6 to 56.6) percentages are up from 2022.

VS. RIGHTIES: In his last 4 games, limiting right-handed hitters to a .175 average (7-for-40) with 1 walk and 13 strikeouts.

  • This season, righties are batting .243 (27-for-111) with 1 walk and 25 strikeouts.

BATTED BALL STATS: His ground ball percentage is up to 43.7 from 25.5 while his fl y ball percentage is down to 24.6 from 44.7.

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