Rockies At Diamondbacks, April 25th: Game Time, Lineups, and Preview

Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks. 7:40 P.M. MST

Jorge De La Rosa will look to keep the good times rolling tonight in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. In his last two starts he has posted nearly identical 6-inning outings in which he surrendered no runs and only 2 hits. The big news for the Rockies today was the decision to place Todd Helton on the DL. Ryan Wheeler gets the call from the minor leagues and finds himself in the starting lineup against Diamondbacks RHP Trevor Cahill. Here’s the full Rockies lineup:

De La Rosa. Image: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Eric Young Jr. RF
Dexter Fowler CF
Carlos Gonzalez LF
Troy Tulowitzki SS
Michael Cuddyer 1B
Ryan Wheeler 3B
Josh Rutledge 2B
Yorvit Torrealba C
Jorge De La Rosa P

Worth noting is the fact that all four outfielders currently on the roster are in the starting lineup. Any in-game moves would have to involve Cuddyer moving to the outfield and Jordan Pacheco or Wheeler taking over at first base. Which I suppose works OK, but it seems like the Rockies had plenty of infielders already to be leaving Tyler Colvin down in Colorado Springs.

Kirk Gibson counters with the following gritty, gutty, hard-nosed lineup:

AJ Pollock CF
Gerardo Parra LF
Martin Prado 3B
Paul Goldschmidt 1B
Cody Ross RF
Wil Nieves C
Josh Wilson 2B
Cliff Pennington SS
Trevor Cahill P

Didi Gregorius has been giving me nightmares ever since the weekend, so I consider it quite fortunate that he is not in this lineup. While I will thoroughly enjoy making fun of the Diamondbacks for trading away Justin Upton for the foreseeable future, they still have lots of Rockies-killing pop with Goldschmidt and Ross in the middle of the order.

Worth noting: this game could be an all-time crazy game, like a final score of 27-24, and it still wouldn’t sniff Sportscenter because of the NFL Draft. What would it take for this game to overtake the draft as the lead story tonight on ESPN‘s flagship program? I mean, it would have to involve something distinctively grotesque or weird, right? It might have to involve aliens or something, because baseball alone ain’t gonna do it.