Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies at Rockies, June 14-16

The Rockies (35-32) were dealt a poor hand on Thursday, when three of their regulars suffered injuries.  Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, the National League's second leading hitter, has been placed on the disabled list with a broken rib suffered on a diving defensive play in Thursday's contest against Washington.  Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez was drilled with a line dive foul, while standing on deck in that game, while outfielder Dexter Fowler was hit by a pitch on his hand.

The Phillies (32-35) are no strangers to ailing stars, as the team currently has two All-Stars, second baseman Chase Utley and catcher Carlos Ruiz, on the disabled list with injuries of their own.  Additionally, multi-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay is out of action following shoulder surgery and starting hurler John Lannan has missed nearly two months due to a left quad issue.

Both clubs will try to persevere as they begin a three-game series at Coors Field on Friday night.

The Phillies won two of three meetings in Colorado last year.

Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key stats for this series.


Friday, 8:40 PM.  Kyle Kendrick (6-4, 3.22 ERA) vs. Juan Nicasio (4-2, 4.61 ERA).  In nine career games against the Rockies (eight starts), Kendrick has a 3-2 record along with a 4.63 ERA and a .308 batting average against.  In six road starts this year, Kendrick is 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA.  The right-hander Nicasio has a 2-1 record with a 4.31 ERA in six home starts this season.  Nicasio has recorded a win just once in his last eight outings.

Saturday, 4:10 PM.  Jonathan Pettibone (3-2, 3.70 ERA) vs. Tyler Chatwood (3-1, 2.14 ERA).  In four road starts, Pettibone has a 1-1 record with a 5.32 ERA.  Pettibone is 0-2 with a 4.84 ERA in his last four starts.  Chatwood is 1-0  with a 3.57 ERA in three home stats this year.  The righty Chatwood allowed two earned run over five innings in his lone career start against the Phils last September.  Michael Young is 5-for-6 (.833 avg) in his career against Chatwood. 

Sunday, 4:10 PM.  Cole Hamels (2-9, 4.45 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (4-3, 4.52 ERA).  In six career regular season starts against the Rockies, Hamels is 3-1 with a 3.32 ERA.  Hamels is 1-4 with a 3.48 ERA in seven road starts this year.  Hamels has a 5.09 ERA in three career regular season starts at Coors Field.  In his last outing against Washington (five innings, two earned runs), Chacin notched a victory after going seven straight starts without one.  In five career games against the Phillies, Chacin has a 1-0 record with a 1.21 ERA.  Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are a combined 0-for-16 in their careers against Chacin.

In 11 career games at Coors Field, Phils catcher Humberto Quintero is a .364 hitter with three doubles, a homer and four RBI.  Quintero is batting .150 in eight road games in the big leagues this season.

Injured catcher Carlos Ruiz is slated to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday.  Ruiz has been sidelined with a hamstring strain since May 20th.  

Domonic Brown holds the National League lead in home runs with 19, while Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki are second and third with 18 and 16 respectively.  Brown is batting .326 with four homers and 12 RBI in 12 games this month.

Ryan Howard is batting .289 in 12 games this month, but has not slugged a home run since May 29th.  In 23 regular season games at Coors Field, Howard has a .286 average with six home runs and 19 RBI.

Rookie third baseman Nolan Arenado is batting .327 in 12 games this month.  The 22-year-old is batting .250 with four homers and 13 RBI in 25 home games.

Former Phillies prospect Josh Outman is 2-0 with a 4.81 ERA out of the Rockies' bullpen.  The lefty hurler was dealt to Oakland as part of the Joe Blanton trade in 2008.  He was then swapped to Colorado prior to the 2012 season in a deal for Seth Smith.

In 87 career games against the Phillies, Todd Helton has a .360 average with 17 homers and 62 RBI.  Helton is batting .221 in 27 home games this season.

Phillies bullpen ERA- 4.51 (28th in MLB)
Rockies bullpen ERA- 3.30 (12th in MLB)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...