A look at the best-of-five National League Division Series
between the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers:
SCHEDULE: (All
times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Milwaukee, 5:07 p.m. (FS1); Game 2, Friday, at
Milwaukee, 4:15 p.m. (FS1); Game 3, Sunday, at Denver, 4:37 p.m. (MLB); x-Game
4, Monday, Oct. 8, at Denver, TBA; x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Milwaukee,
TBA. x-if necessary.
SEASON SERIES:
Brewers won 5-2.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
ROCKIES: CF Charlie
Blackmon (.291, 29 HRs, 70 RBIs), 2B DJ LeMahieu (.276, 15, 62), LF David Dahl
(.273, 16, 48) or Matt Holliday (.283, 2, 3, 12 walks, .849 OPS in 65 plate
appearances), 3B Nolan Arenado (.297, 38, 110), SS Trevor Story (.291, 37,
108), RF Carlos Gonzalez (.276, 16, 64), 1B Ian Desmond (.236, 22, 88), C Chris
Iannetta (.224, 11, 36).
BREWERS: CF
Lorenzo Cain (.308, 10s, 38, 30/37 steals, .395 OBP), RF Christian Yelich
(NL-best .326, 36, 110, 22/26 steals, 1.000 OPS), 1B Jesus Aguilar (.274, 35,
108, .890 OPS), 2B Travis Shaw (.241, 32, 86) or Jonathan Schoop (.233, 21, 61
with Orioles and Brewers; .202, 4, 21 in 46 games with Brewers), LF Ryan Braun
(.254, 20, 64), 3B Mike Moustakas (.251, 28, 95 with Royals and Brewers), C
Erik Kratz (.236, 6, 23 in 67 games) or Manny Pina (.252, 9, 28 in 98 games),
SS Orlando Arcia (.236, 3, 30 in 348 ABs) or Hernan Perez (.253, 9, 29, 11/14
steals in 316 ABs).
STARTING PITCHERS:
ROCKIES: RH
Antonio Senzatela (6-6, 4.38 ERA), LH Tyler Anderson (7-9, 4.55), LH Kyle Freeland
(17-7, 2.85 ERA, lowest full-season ERA for starting pitcher in team history),
RH German Marquez (14-11, 3.76, club-record 230 Ks).
BREWERS: RH
Brandon Woodruff (3-0, 3.61 in 19 games, 4 starts; 1-0, 0.73 over 12 1/3 IP in
7 relief appearances after Sept. 1), RH Jhoulys Chacin (15-8, 3.50, 35 starts,
156 Ks in 192 2/3 IP), LH Wade Miley (5-2, 2.57 in 16 starts), LHP Gio Gonzalez
(10-11, 4.21, 171 IP with Nationals and Brewers; 3-0, 2.13 in 5 starts for
Brewers).
RELIEVERS:
Rockies: RH Wade
Davis (3-6, 4.13 ERA, led NL with team-record 43/49 saves), RH Adam Ottavino
(6-4, 2.43, 112 Ks, most by a Rockies reliever), RH Scott Oberg (8-1, 2.46), RH
Seunghwan Oh (2-0, 2.57 with Rockies; 4-3, 2.68 with Toronto), LH Chris Rusin
(2-3, 6.20), LH Jake McGee (2-4, 6.49), RH Bryan Shaw (4-6, 5.93), LH Harrison
Musgrave (2-3, 4.63).
BREWERS: RH
Jeremy Jeffress (8-1, 1.29, 15/20 saves in 73 games, 89 Ks in 76 2/3 IP), LH
Josh Hader (6-1, 2.43, 12/17 saves in 55 games, 143 Ks in 81 1/3 IP), RH Corey
Knebel (4-3, 3.58, 16/19 saves in 57 games, 88 Ks in 55 1/2 IP; 2-0, 0.00 ERA
in 16 IP after Sept. 1), RH Joakim Soria (3-4, 3.12 in 66 games with White Sox
and Brewers), LH Dan Jennings (4-5, 3.22 in 72 games), RH Taylor Williams (1-3,
4.25 in 56 games), RH Corbin Burns (7-0, 2.61 in 30 games), RH Freddy Peralta
(6-4, 4.25 in 16 games, 14 starts).
MATCHUPS
First postseason meeting between the teams. ... Milwaukee
manager Craig Counsell plans to open series with Woodruff on the mound in a
bullpen day. One of Woodruff's four starts came at Colorado, when he allowed
seven runs on nine hits in three innings on May 11. ... Chacin will start Game
2. ... Story had seven homers and 18 RBIs in seven regular-season games vs.
Milwaukee, his most home runs against one team. ... Arenado had same number of
strikeouts (seven) as hits (seven) against the Brewers. His one homer off them
this year came off Knebel. ... Dahl hit .429 vs. Brewers pitching. ... Colorado
batted .227 against Milwaukee with 13 homers and 30 RBIs in 2018. Rockies hit just
.189 at Miller Park. ... Colorado's pitching staff had 5.43 ERA against
Brewers. ... Freeland's 17 wins tied for second in franchise history and were
the most since Ubaldo Jimenez had a team-record 19 in 2010. The left-hander
also became first Rockies pitcher to reach 200 innings since Jimenez that year.
Freeland, a Denver native, isn't intimidated by pitching at higher elevation
and is likely to start at home in this series. He was 10-2 with a 2.40 ERA at
hitter-friendly Coors Field, lowest mark for a starter in club history. He went
7-5 with a 3.23 ERA on the road, and then delivered 6 2/3 shutout innings at
Wrigley Field in wild-card game against Cubs. ... Colorado's 57 wins against
teams at or above .500 led the majors. ... Rockies had 46 comeback wins,
third-most in club history. ... Brewers outscored Rockies 40-31 this year,
including 11-10 win in 10 innings at Coors Field on May 11. ... Yelich hit .333
with one homer and four RBIs vs. Colorado. He is career .273 hitter with two
homers and 18 RBIs in 40 games against Rockies. ... Left-handed hitters were 8
for 89 (.090) with one homer against Hader.
BIG PICTURE
ROCKIES: Fell
just short of first division title in 26-year history of the team with 5-2 loss
Monday at Dodger Stadium in tiebreaker for NL West crown. That sent Rockies
(91-72) on road in wild-card game for second consecutive season under manager
Bud Black. They lost 11-8 at Arizona last year, but outlasted Chicago Cubs 2-1
in 13 innings Tuesday night at Wrigley Field on go-ahead single by backup
catcher Tony Wolters. Game lasted nearly 5 hours and was longest win-or-go-home
postseason game in major league history. It also was third big game over three
days in three different time zones for Rockies, who finally got a day to rest
and catch their breath Wednesday in Milwaukee. ... Colorado is making
back-to-back playoff appearances for first time. ... Arenado led NL in homers,
and Story set career high with 37. Blackmon joined Willie Mays and Duke Snider
as only NL center fielders to have at least three seasons with 25 homers and
100 runs. ... After an eight-game home losing streak ended June 19, team went
36-14 at Coors Field. The .720 winning percentage was best mark in NL during
that time. ... Rockies went 19-9 in September; their second-most wins in the
month behind 20 in 2007.
BREWERS: Won
final eight games including tiebreaker for NL Central title, beating Cubs 3-1
on Monday at Wrigley Field in 163rd game of regular season. Milwaukee (96-67)
is making first playoff appearance since 2011, last time team won division. ...
Brewers had best record in National League and are seeking first postseason win
since Oct. 13, 2011, when they beat St. Louis 4-2 in Game 4 of NLCS won in six
games by Cardinals. ... Yelich's monster second half carried Brewers to
division championship and home-field advantage throughout NL playoffs. He
batted .367 with 25 homers and 67s RBIs in 65 games after All-Star break,
making him NL MVP favorite. Nearly became first Triple Crown winner in National
League since 1937. ... Brewers are back in playoffs just three seasons after
beginning roster rebuild that started under former GM Doug Melvin. David
Stearns took over in October 2015 after enjoying similar success as assistant
GM with Houston. Stearns brought Cain back to Milwaukee as a free agent after
he left Royals around same time team traded for Yelich from Marlins. ...
Aguilar went from bench bat to slugging staple at first base, taking advantage
of opportunity after Eric Thames missed time earlier in year with injuries. ...
Braun is enjoying late-season resurgence, hitting .344 with five homers and 12
RBIs since Sept. 21. ... Moustakas was acquired from Kansas City in late July
to join Cain in giving Brewers two key players from 2015 Royals team that won
World Series.
WATCH FOR
— Story Time. It's been a big season for Story, the first
shortstop in major league history with at least 40 doubles, 30 homers and 25
stolen bases. He hurt his elbow late in the season at Los Angeles, missing five
games, but has quickly picked up where he left off. Story had three hits in
wild-card game and scored decisive run in 13th inning.
— Show Stopper. Yelich is making his first playoff
appearance after spending first five seasons with Marlins. He hit .458 with
five homers and 17 RBIs during Brewers' eight-game winning streak to end
regular season.
— Flashing Leather. It seems almost every game; Arenado
turns in a highlight-reel play at third base. He's won five straight Gold
Gloves.
— Throwing Heat. Brewers boast a lot of quality options in
deep bullpen. Hader has the ability to go multiple innings in a shutdown role
late in games. Built-in off days should help keep the lights-out lefty fresh.
Jeffress has taken over the closer role, but Knebel re-established himself in
September after struggling earlier this season.
PREDICTION: BREWERS
IN 4
No comments:
Post a Comment