Colorado Rockies series preview: 3 game series against Miami

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PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 11: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies yells at a fan sitting by the on-deck circle after hitting a three run home run off of Jake Barrett #33 of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the eighth inning at Chase Field on September 11, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies return home on a high note after they defeated the San Diego Padres on Sunday by a score of 8-4 after a disastrous 2-4 road trip against the San Francisco Giants and the Padres. However, they still have a two game lead on the second Wild Card spot over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Rockies will come home to face the Miami Marlins in their penultimate home series of the regular season. The Marlins have nothing to lose as, entering Monday, they are 73-82 and they have been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention. Here are some things to look forward to in the series.

Monday’s Probable Starters

For the Marlins, Odrisamer Despaigne will be the scheduled starter. He is 0-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 16 games (six of which were starts). In September, he has made four appearances (three starts) and he has an ERA of 4.76 and an opponent batting average of .258. In those appearances, he pitched a total of 17 innings and he walked nine batters. Six of them were against the Atlanta Braves on September 10 when he only went 3 2/3 innings and in addition to six walks, he allowed four hits and five runs.

Despaigne will face Tyler Chatwood. Outside of Jon Gray, he, arguably, has been the most consistent starter of late. In September, he has made four appearances (the last three have been starts). In that span, he has gone 20 1/3 innings, he has allowed 19 hits, only four runs, eight walks, and he has struck out 16 with an ERA of 1.77 and a .253 opponent batting average.

DENVER, CO – MAY 30: Starting pitcher Tyler Anderson #44 of the Colorado Rockies throws in the third inning against the Seattle Mariners at Coors Field on May 30, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

On Tuesday, Jose Urena will face the Rockies. He is 14-6 with a 3.55 ERA in 32 appearances (26 starts). On August 11, he faced the Rockies in Miami and he went 5 1/3 innings allowing six hits and three runs. In seven starts since then, he is 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA and a .243 opponent batting average.

Tyler Anderson will toe the slab for the Rox. Since his return from the disabled list, he has made three appearances (two starts and a long relief appearance). In that span, he is 2-1 with a 1.72 ERA and batters have only hit .173 with a .211 on-base percentage.

Wednesday’s probable starters

In the series finale, Adam Conley will be starting for the Marlins. He is 7-7 with a 5.74 ERA in 20 games (19 starts). It will be imperative for the Rockies to get on Conley early as other teams have of late. In four September starts, he has not logged more than 5 2/3 innings in any start. Combined in the month, he has only averaged four innings per start with an ERA of 9.56 and an opponent batting average of .348. In his last start against Arizona, he only went 1 2/3 innings and he allowed six hits and seven runs.

He will face Jon Gray. Since July 25, he has not allowed more than three runs in any start. In that span, he has made 12 starts and he is 6-3 with a 2.49 ERA and a .243 opponent batting average. In September, he has been even better. He is 3-1 with 2.17 ERA and a .219 opponent batting average in the month. This will be his final start before the Rockies hope that he will start in the National League Wild Card Game next Wednesday.

SAN DIEGO, CA – SEPTEMBER 24: Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies is congratulated by /Stu Cole #39 after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on September 24, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

The Marlins and the D’Backs this past weekend

In the Marlins most recent series with the D’Backs, their offense averaged nearly nine runs a game with a .315 batting average. They lost two of three games because their pitching did not do well. They had an ERA of 7.37. On Friday, the Marlins lost 13-11. They won on Saturday by a score of 12-6 and they lost Sunday on a walk-off win by the D’Backs by a score of 3-2.

The Rockies offense

The Rockies offense finally woke up on Sunday as they scored eight runs. However, between September 17 and September 23, the Rockies were shut out in three games and in the other three games, they scored three runs twice and four runs once. As a result, they only averaged 1.7 runs in that six game span. They also only hit .223 with a .285 on-base percentage and a .294 slugging percentage.

The ice-cold bat of Charlie Blackmon came to life on Sunday when he went 2-for-4 with three runs, a walk, and a home run. Between September 10 and Saturday, Blackmon only had six hits in 12 games with an average of .133. He only had three hits between September 17 and 23.

Before Sunday, Nolan Arenado was only hitting .190 since September 17. He went 1-for-3 on Sunday.

Final Thoughts

There’s a reason why the Marlins are nine games under .500: they aren’t a good team. Therefore, the Rockies need to win at least two of three. Despaigne and Conley will be the easier starters and Jose Urena will be the most difficult so they will plan accordingly. They still could easily sweep the Marlins even with Urena.

Next: Putting the Rockies offense in perspective

The Brewers have an off-day on Monday so if the Rockies win, they could increase their lead in the Wild Card standings to 2 1/2. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, they will face the Cincinnati Reds. They are 9-7 against them this year and the Reds are also not a good team. They could very easily sweep the Reds but the Brewers can’t gain ground if the Rockies don’t lose. They have some room to lose but you want to have a cushion, especially heading into the final series against the Dodgers.

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