Rockies Lineup – July 23, 2012: Sanchez Debuts

I know not everyone is wild about Jonathan Sanchez pitching for the Rockies, and I’m certainly not throwing him a parade or anything. But, for now at least, I am cringing substantially less than I have whenever Jeremy Guthrie has climbed the mound in recent weeks. I’m willing to give Sanchez a chance. He has pitched well at Coors (3.07 ERA from 2009-2011), and he understands the adjustments that a pitcher at altitude must make. Whether he can and/or will do that remains to be seen. But I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt. With maybe a small emphasis on the “doubt” part.

In any case, the Diamondbacks’ ace, Ian Kennedy, gets the start for them, so unless Sanchez can come up with a scoreless outing, on a 75-pitch limit, he’s unlikely to record his first win as a Rockie tonight. On the other hand, Kennedy’s numbers (7-8, 4.33) are certainly worse than what the D-backs got out of him during his Cy Young campaign in 2011. So who knows? Both of these guys could go either way tonight.

Fortunately, Dexter Fowler is back in the lineup, despite the “road splits” Jim Tracy inexplicably cites all the time. Ramon Hernandez is back behind the dish and Jordan Pacheco has the night off as DJ LeMahieu gets another look at 3rd base. As for the D-backs, watch out for lead-off hitter Willie Bloomquist, who has 10 hits in his last 7 games. Paul Goldschmidt is batting .400 against Rockies pitchers this season.

Dexter Fowler CF
Marco Scutaro 2B
Carlos Gonzalez LF
Michael Cuddyer 1B
Tyler Colvin RF
Ramon Hernandez C
Josh Rutledge SS
DJ LeMahieu 3B
Jonathan Sanchez P

Willie Bloomquist SS
Aaron Hill 2B
Jason Kubel LF
Paul Goldschmidt 1B
Justin Upton RF
Miguel Montero C
Chris Young CF
Ryan Roberts 3B
Ian Kennedy P

First pitch is 7:40 MDT from Chase Field in Phoenix.