Colorado Rockies vs. Philadelphia Phillies: What to expect

The Colorado Rockies take their red hot bats back to Coors Field for a three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are one of the worst teams in baseball record-wise, so many would have to expect a three-game sweep. Here’s what to expect in the next three days:

A three-game sweep is needed, but may be harder than you might expect.

The Rockies are 3-1 against the Phillies this year, while outscoring them 24-7. I do not care how bad the Phillies are. Going 6-1 against any team is difficult in baseball. However, the Rockies were 10-1 against the Giants at one point, so sweeping is a possibility. The pitching seems to favor Colorado. Kyle Freeland and Jon Gray in particular should dominate their counterpart.

Jeff Hoffman against Aaron Nola is where we should be concerned. Hoffman has struggled to throw strikes as of lately. And while he’s done a solid job getting out of them, he does get into tough situations a lot. Hoffman also has the hardest matchup in Aaron Nola. Nola has been nearly flawless his last two starts. If the Rockies can only have one game to heat up offensively, game 3 would be the best time. The Blake Street Bombers need to beat up on Aaron Nola to give Hoffman a cushion.

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While sweeping is never easy, the Rockies need to sweep.

The Colorado Rockies will likely be in the playoffs, given they don’t fall off a cliff. The next goal is passing the Arizona Diamondbacks for home field advantage. Arizona has been ahead of the Rockies for so long now, it feels impossible to surpass them. However, the Rockies red-hot offense finds themselves only a half-game out. Having game 163 at Coors is a necessity. Arizona seems to be a subtle favorite to beat the Rockies in the Wild Card game. We all know this game is really a 50/50 game, in which either team can win. Having it at Coors Field would be huge. It obviously helps the offense big time against a great pitcher in Zach Greinke. You could argue home field advantage is more important in Colorado than anywhere else in the MLB.

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The Diamondbacks are going on the road to face the Giants in a 3 game set. Arizona is 4-3 against San Francisco. I really do not think we should plan on the D-Backs losing the series. At the very least, we can hope the Giants steal a game off Arizona. If the Rockies sweep the Phillies, then all we need is one loss to gain a lead on the Diamondbacks in the standings. Yet another reason why sweeping is a must.