Colorado Rockies vs. St. Louis Cardinals: 5 players to watch

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Sep 20, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong (16) dives into the second base against Colorado Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu (9) after a wild pitch in the first inning at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Coming off one of their most successful road trips in franchise history, the Colorado Rockies return home to Coors Field to meet the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time in the 2017 season.

The Cardinals finished up a series at Chavez Ravine last night against the Los Angeles Dodgers then made the late night flight to Denver. St. Louis is part of a three-team scrum at the top of the National League Central, fighting with the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers for division supremacy as the calendar turns to June.

Colorado, meanwhile, will enjoy a brief stay at home this weekend. Coming off a season-long 10-game road trip, the Rockies are in the middle of a stretch of plenty of action away from Coors Field. After hosting the Cardinals for three games and the Seattle Mariners for a pair of games, Colorado will start a June schedule that has them playing 18 of their 26 games on the road.

Maybe that’s not a bad thing, however, as the Rockies are 18-8 on the road after taking three of four games in Philadelphia and going 7-3 on their 10-game swing through Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.

But let’s focus on the upcoming homestand before we look too far ahead. This will be the only trip of the season for the Cardinals into the Mile High City so let’s take a look at five players who will impact this series mightily, from both sides of the diamond.

Jedd Gyorko

There are few Redbirds who have been as hot at the plate in recent weeks as Gyorko. Coming into Thursday’s series finale in Los Angeles, the 28-year-old third baseman was hitting .331 on the season with seven homers and 18 RBI. That number is spiked by a May that has seen him produce at least one hit in all but three games this month.

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Just how good has Gyorko been this season? Check out this article from our sister site, Redbird Rants, where the comparisons are made between Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Gyorko. It’s a pretty interesting read.

Another thing to know about Gyorko is that he is thriving when the Cardinals hit the road. In 16 road games this season (before Thursday night), he was hitting .390 away from Busch Stadium. He’s also hitting .375 in night games versus just .225 in matinees. With the Cardinals and Rockies scheduled to play in Denver on Friday and Saturday night, that might be setting up as a very nice combination for Gyorko.

Hitting .357 with runners in scoring position, this is one St. Louis batter you don’t want to see at the plate in what could be a momentum-swinging at-bat.

Carlos Martinez

Martinez was supposed to be the ace of the St. Louis rotation heading into the season. He certainly lived up to that billing on Opening Night against the World Champion Chicago Cubs, throwing 7.1 shutout innings. After that, however, it was an April to forget for the 25-year-old right-hander.

Colorado Rockies

Martinez ended April with an 0-3 record and 4.71 ERA in five starts. Part of the problem was a lack of control as he walked 14 batters in 28.2 innings.

However, when it comes to Martinez, that was then and this is now. Since the calendar flipped to May, he has a 3-0 mark and 1.86 ERA in four starts. He has struck out 23 in 29 innings of work while walking just eight. In his last outing against the San Francisco Giants, Martinez crafted a complete game masterpiece where he allowed just two hits and no runs. And he did all of that in just 93 pitches.

Opponents are hitting just .158 against him in May so he will pose a challenge to a Rockies lineup that has been red hot in recent games.

He will face Colorado rookie sensation Antonio Senzatela (6-1, 3.67 ERA) in the series opener on Friday night. That should be billed as a marquee pitching matchup in Major League Baseball that night.

DJ LeMahieu

While Charlie Blackmon has been getting a lot of the headlines recently for his play at the plate (and for good reason, we might add), the batter usually right behind him in the order has been putting together a pretty solid season as well.

Remember when people were starting to whisper about LeMahieu’s cold start to the season. The defending National League batting champion was hitting just .171 10 games into the campaign. Well, it’s been nothing but up for the 28-year-old All-Star second baseman since then.

LeMahieu is quietly hitting .319 in May (before an 0-for-1 pinch-hitting performance on Thursday). The fact that few people are talking about his average shows the depth of the Rockies powerful lineup at the moment. But DJ is quiet on and off the field so maybe it’s not a huge surprise his batting isn’t getting a lot of attention at the moment with his teammates blasting the ball as well.

Eleven of his 17 RBI have come this month so it shows that not only is LeMahieu getting the chance to produce but he’s also taking advantage of it as well. Just think how much higher those numbers might be if Blackmon wasn’t producing at a stunning RBI pace right now (42 in his first 47 games).

Trevor Story

Story will be playing in front of the Coors Field faithful for the first time since injuring his left shoulder in the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs on May 9. Will they see a different Story than the one who was struggling before his injury?

Kyle Freeland

In his last outing against Cincinnati, Freeland proved there wasn’t much he couldn’t do … on the mound or at the plate.

Freeland hit his first career double and homer while throwing 5.2 innings to earn his fifth victory of the season in a 6-4 win over the Reds. It was the second consecutive victory for Freeland and moved him to 2-1 in May with a 3.75 ERA.

That’s the good news for Colorado’s 24-year-old southpaw. The bad news is that his ERA has been steadily creeping up since the month began. He’s allowed three earned runs in each of his last three starts, pushing an ERA that was 2.65 on May 4 over a run higher.

Part of that rise has come because of the home run. Freeland gave up just one homer in April in five starts. He’s given up three long balls in four May starts.

While he’s been giving up more runs, Colorado opponents are actually having less luck against him overall at the plate. Opposing batters hit .269 against Freeland in April. In May, that number has dropped to .200.

Next: Who was Colorado's best offseason acquisition?

When he gets the ball against St. Louis, it will be his 10th start of his Major League career. It’s a reminder of just how young Freeland is and how bright of a career he has ahead of him.

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