Rockies Lineup, May 4 2012: Chipper’s Farewell Tour Comes to Denver

I was fortunate enough to be invited by one of my friends in high school to go watch the Rockies play the Braves each summer at Coors Field. This came about because he was a big Braves fan, so he really enjoyed the beatings regularly administered by the away team. The details of those games blur together at this point, but I do remember one thing: Chipper Jones raked.

Now granted, Chipper has done that to a lot of teams in a lot of stadiums. I remember in particular a game where he knocked multiple home runs; either that or I have just convinced myself that I was at this game. It just felt inevitable that Chipper would destroy the Rockies. As Chipper gets his final swings in the hitter’s haven that is Coors Field, here’s hoping fans give him a big ovation, even if he did talk that noise about CarGo.

The Atlanta Braves enter this series with a 15-11 record. They have scored 133 runs this season, second only to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League. Given the eye test, there is not much about tonight’s match-up that favors the Rockies. Quick – would you rather have Guillermo Moscoso or Tim Hudson starting for your team? That’s what I thought.

Here is the lineup Tracy sends as the Rockies try to build on their series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Marco Scutaro 2B
Jonathan Herrera 3B
Carlos Gonzalez LF
Troy Tulowitzki SS
Todd Helton 1B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Ramon Hernandez C
Dexter Fowler CF
Guillermo Moscoso P

Herrera is back in the 2nd spot, with Fowler batting 8th. In order to keep up with a hot offensive team like the Braves (their being shut out by Joe Blanton notwithstanding), it seems to me that Scutaro and Herrera become an important part of the team’s success. That also makes me happy that switch hitting, skinny, fast Adam Dunn Dexter Fowler is in the 8th spot. I think it suits his skills better, and I just would rather have those strikeouts down there than in front of the molten hot CarGo.

Here is the lineup that Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez sends out:

Michael Bourn CF
Chipper Jones 3B
Freddie Freeman 1B
Brian McCann C
Dan Uggla 2B
Jason Heyward RF
Eric Hinske LF
Jack Wilson SS
Tim Hudson P

Freeman is the scariest name on the list; he has 100 career home runs against the Rockies (approximately). With Uggla and Heyward hitting like competent major league baseball players again, the Braves have made a quick transformation from offensively challenged to offensively potent. Let’s just hope Moscoso can keep the ball in the yard. For some reason I can’t shake the vision I have of a guy like Hinske lumbering around the bases after he sends a devastating home run to the bullpen in right…

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