COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:
BAY WATCH
- The Colorado Rockies continue their final road trip of the first half tonight with the second of three games in San Francisco, their first visit to the Bay Area this season … are coming off a pair of losses in Houston to begin the trip.
- Following the All-Star Break next week, the Rockies begin the second half of the season with a five-game homestand against the New York Yankees (July 14-16) and the Houston Astros (July 18-19).
SNIP SNAP
- The Rockies snapped two different streaks with last night’s 5-2 against the Giants … the win snapped the Rockies’ 10-game road losing streak dating back to June 14, tied for the second-longest in franchise history, and also snapped the Rockies’ 11-game losing streak to the Giants dating back to August 2022 … it was Colorado’s first win in San Francisco since June 9, 2022.
- Rockies pitchers combined for one total strikeout in the game with no walks, the fourth time in franchise history they struck out one or fewer with no walks … the last instance (and the only other win) happened on Sept. 3, 2014 vs. San Francisco, with the other two instances coming in 1993.
THE BFG
- The Giants are 32-10 (.762) against the Rockies since the start of the 2021 season, the best record by any MLB team in a divisional matchup in that span (via STATS).
- Colorado is 89-163 overall in San Francisco, going 7-17 at Oracle Park since 2020.
- A win over the next two days will give the Rockies their first series win over the Giants since winning two of three at Coors Field Aug. 19-21, 2022, and their first series win in San Francisco since June 7-9, 2022.
WINNING TIME
- Left-hander Austin Gomber won his third-straight start last night, posting a 3.00 ERA (18.0 IP, 6 ER) over that span.
- Since May 23, Gomber is the only Rockies starting pitcher to earn a win, going 4-3 over that span … over 41 games since that date, Rockies starters are 4-21 with a 7.57 ERA (190.1 IP, 160 ER).
- Gomber’s win last night was the first by a Rockies starter on the road since Connor Seabold earned the win on May 9 at Pittsburgh.
CRYSTAL BALL
- The 2023 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game will take place tonight at 5 p.m. MT at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park … outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez, the Rockies’ #3 overall prospect, will represent the Rockies for the National League side … in 74 combined games between High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford this season, he has slashed .304/.355/.588 with 15 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs and 77 RBI … he ranks second in the Minors in RBI and tied for fourth in home runs.
- The 2023 First-Year Player Draft begins tomorrow night at 5 p.m. MT … the Rockies will make three picks tomorrow: ninth overall, 46th overall (second round) and 65th overall (competitive balance round B).
HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR
- Major League Baseball announced last Sunday that Elias Díaz was selected as a reserve for the National League in the 2023 All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash. … the selection marks the 32-year-old’s first Major League All-Star appearance and the first time in franchise history a Rockies catcher has been selected to the game … with an appearance in the Midsummer Classic, Díaz will become one of 10 Venezuelan-born catchers to appear in an All-Star Game.
- Díaz has appeared in 72 games at catcher this season, the second-most in the National League. … when playing as a catcher, his 70 hits are tied for the most in the NL, while his 40 RBI and 15 doubles are third.
- His 14 catcher caught stealings are tied for the second-most in baseball while his 28.8 caught stealing percentage ranks third in the National League (min. 50 GS) … his 1.0 dWAR is tied for 10th in the National League and is second among league catchers.
THE ROOKIE, THE FATHER
- Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar hit his ninth home run of the season last night in the seventh inning, the first go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later in his career.
- The 21-year-old shortstop has hit safely in 17 of 18 since June 13 (.324, 23-for-71), 26 of 29 since June 1 (.307, 35-for-114) and in 36 of 41 since May 20 (.316, 49-for-155) … his .316 average since May 20 ranks ninth in the NL and leads all NL rookies.
- Hit in 15-straight June 13-July 2, tied for the fourth-longest hitting streak by a Colorado rookie in team history (also: Juan Pierre, Sept. 6-21, 2000).
- Ranks among all NL rookies in doubles (20, T-1st), batting average (.266, 3rd), hits (79, 3rd), extra-base hits (31, 3rd), RBI (44, 3rd), games (82, T-4th) and home runs (9, 7th).
- Tovar’s 1.7 WAR (Baseball Reference) ranks fourth among NL rookies and is currently the seventh-highest for a rookie in franchise history.
- His 1.2 defensive WAR is tied for the sixth-highest mark among all National League players, is tied for third among all Major League shortstops and tied for the best among all rookies.
ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #43 CONNOR SEABOLD RHP
STARTING THINGS OFF
- Laguna Hills, Calif., native is in his seventh professional season, his first with the Rockies organization.
- Selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal. State Fullerton … first selected by Baltimore in the 19th round of the 2014 First Year Player Draft but did not sign.
- On Aug. 21,2020 was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with Nick Pivetta to the Boston Red Sox for Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman.
- Designated for assignment by Boston, Jan. 12, 2023 … acquired by Colorado via trade for cash considerations or a player to be named later, Jan. 17.
- Made his Major League debut with Boson on Sept. 11, 2021 vs. Chicago-AL.
ROUGH PATCH
- Lost his third consecutive start and his fifth in his last eight starts his last time out, last Sunday vs. Detroit at Coors Field … allowed eight runs on seven hits, including three home runs, across five innings pitched.
- Has posted a 14.54 ERA (13.0 IP, 21 ER) over his last three starts … allowed eight home runs over that span, the fifth pitcher in franchise history to allow at least eight home runs over a three-game span (last: Kyle Freeland, June 5-16, 2021).
NOT LONG AGO
- In the three starts prior to this current three-game losing streak, allowed four runs across 17.1 innings pitched (2.08 ERA) with two quality starts … allowed no home runs over this span while limiting opponents to a .180 average.
SITTING ON A DOCK
- Made his first career start against the Giants on June 7 but did not factor into the Rockies’ 5-4 loss.
- Pitched a then-career high six innings, allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts … took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before allowing a one out single to LaMonte Wade Jr. … faced two batters in the seventh inning with both reaching and eventually scoring … left with the Rockies leading 4-0.
START YOUR ENGINES
- Earned his first Major League win May 9 at Pittsburgh, the last Rockies starting pitcher to earn a win on the road … allowed one run on three hits with a career-high three walks and three strikeouts across five innings in the 10-1 Rockies win.
- Made his first start of the season May 4 vs. Milwaukee at Coors Field … did not factor into the Rockies’ 9-6, allowing three runs on seven hits with no walks and one strikeout in five innings.
ARM BARN
- Made seven relief appearances across two stints this season before joining the rotation on May 4 … allowed eight runs on 18 hits across 13.2 innings (5.27 ERA).
- Has allowed 2.92 walks per nine on the year.
- Made his first career Opening Day roster this season with the Rockies before being optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on April 18 … recalled on April 28.
START ME UP
- Has made 17 career Major League starts dating back to his Major League debut on Sept. 11, 2021, going 1-9 with an 7.99 ERA (74.1 IP, 66 ER).
- As a starter, has struck out 56 and walked 28 while allowing 20 home runs … opponents slashing .315/.382/.604 off Seabold as a starter.
DAY ‘N’ NITE
- Across six games (five starts) in day games this season, Seabold has posted a 0-3 record with a 10.57 ERA (23.0 IP, 27 ER).
- Over his 12 night game appearances (six starts), has tallied a 4.53 ERA in 43.2 IP (22 ER) with a 1-2 record … opposing hitters are batting .259 with a 9.07 H/9 … both quality starts earned this season have come in night games.
SPLITTING UP
- The first time through the lineup, opponents are hitting .292 (38-for-130) compared to .286 (30-for-105) the second time through and .265 (9-for-34) the third time around.
- Opponents are slashing .277/.344/.507 with no runners on and .298/.355/.562 with runners on base.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: SF and Colorado play the second game of this three game series here this afternoon with the Giants looking to level the series after last night’s loss…last night’s loss snapped SF’s 11-game winning streak vs. Colorado that dated to August 21 of last season…since 2021, SF has gone 15-5 vs. the Rockies here at Oracle Park with a +47 run differential (103-56).
TOUGH STRETCH: After winning 10 straight games from June 11-21, SF has gone just 5-9 in 14 games since…the Giants have been outscored 67-41 (-26) while logging a .596 OPS offensively…they’ve averaged 2.9 runs per game…below is a breakdown of the Giants last 14 games versus their 10-game win streak that preceded this stretch…SF had been without a few of its key offensive contributors during this recent stretch with OFs Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski each missing some time and now IF Thairo Estrada has hit the IL.
THE FUNK…: The Giants .596 OPS since June 22 is second-lowest in the Majors just ahead of the Royals .594 OPS in that span…SF’s strikeout rate of 25.8% is fifth-highest in MLB while their 2.93 runs per game are the lowest in the Majors… on the pitching side, SF’s 4.72 team ERA is 21st of 30 MLB teams in this stretch.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE: SF sent the minimum to the plate in seven of nine innings in last night’s loss to Colorado…overall, the Giants sent 31 men to the plate and they saw a total of 101 pitches from Rockies pitching last night (3.26 pitches/ PA)…during this tough stretch, the Giants as a team are averaging 3.75 pitches per plate appearance, second-fewest in the Majors since June 22…only Houston (3.66) is seeing fewer pitches per plate appearance right now…if you take the stretch back to June 1, SF has seen the fifth-fewest amount of pitches per plate appearance in the Majors (3.82)…from March 30-May 31, the Giants were averaging 3.97 pitches per plate appearances, fourth-best in MLB.
RIGHT ON TREND, UNFORTUNATELY…: Since June 1, no team in MLB has scored fewer runs in innings 1-4 than the Giants (36)…the Yankees are next at 44…SF didn’t score last night until the 6th inning on IF Brandon Crawford’s game-tying homer…no team has scored more runs than the Giants from the 5th inning on (117)…the next closest team, Cincinnati, has 108 in that time…SF’s .800 OPS after the 5th inning in that span is second-best in MLB behind the Braves (.866).
THE BIG BREAK: The Giants are entering their last series before the All-Star break and looking a lot like last year’s team heading into the Midsummer Classic.
Giants, Pre-All Star Stats – 2022 and 2023
Record R/G AVG OBP SLG OPS HR SB ERA K
2023 47-41 4.66 .247 .323 .405 .728 103 41 3.95 771
2022 48-43 4.80 .238 .322 .403 .724 111 43 3.74 755
THE BIG PICTURE: Despite this tough stretch, the Giants have still been one of the best teams in baseball over the last 2+ months, posting a 36-25 record since May 1…SF’s .590 winning percentage in that stretch is the third-best in the Majors behind the Braves (41-19, .683) and the Reds (37-24, .607).
ROUCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH?: The Giants have won 11 of their last 12 games with the Rockies dating back to last August… SF is 32-10 (.762) against the Rockies since the start of the 2021 season, the best record by any MLB team in a divisional matchup in that span (Stats, LLC).
GO DJ, THAT’S MY DJ: IF Brandon Crawford broke a tie with Buster Posey last night and now has the sixth-most RBI in the SF-era (1958-pres.) with 731…Matt Williams is next n the list at 732…Crawford is also approaching another milestone as his next game will be his 1,622nd in a Giants uniform…that will tie him with Larry Doyle (1907-1920) for the seventh-most games played in a Giants uniform all-time…he can also reasonably expect to pass fellow shortstop Travis Jackson at some point this season as Jackson ranks sixth all-time at 1,656 career games played in a Giants uniform.
THEY’RE JUST THE OPENERS…: The Giants are returning to their opening ways this afternoon in starting RHP Ryan Walker against the Rockies…this will be Walker’s fifth time opening this year and first time since doing so since June 27 at Toronto…SF has gone 4-0 in games that Walker has opened and is 10-3 this year when using an opener overall, winning each of the last six games that they’ve done so dating to June 11 vs. Chicago-NL…RHP John Brebbia (currently on the IL) and LHP Scott Alexander have been the other SF openers this season…that trio of Alexander, Brebbia and Walker have combined for a 1.84 ERA (3er, 14.2ip) in their 13 games as openers this year.
