The Colorado Rockies start what may be one of their most important road trips of the season with a tough three-game match up against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rockies are riding a four-game winning streak and are hoping to continue their road success with another series win away from Coors Field.
The Cardinals have had a disappointing start to the season. Despite a similar record to the Rockies right now, the expectations for them were considerably higher and with the Chicago Cubs' hot start, they are in danger of falling out of the NL Central race earlier than anyone thought possible.
Cardinals Power Rankings
Really Good: Lineup
The Cardinals offense has surprised a lot of the national pundits who thought it was going to be weakness on a team that is usually founded upon starting pitching. They are tied for second in the majors in wRC+ and have the highest team ISO. Pretty much everyone in their lineup is hitting well, so this will be a good test to see whether the Rockies' road pitching success will hold up.
Good: Bullpen
The Cardinals bullpen is in the top third in baseball and the most impressive part of it was that they had used the same seven relievers through the middle of May before placing Seth Maness on the disabled list and calling up Dean Kiekhefer from Triple-A as their first replacement. Trevor Rosenthal is the closer for the Cardinals and his 14.25 K/9 represents the kind of strikeout numbers you dream of your closer having. Unfortunately he's also walking 7.5 batters per nine, which has yet to get him into too much trouble but will if not rectified.
Average: Rotation
Like the bullpen, the Cardinals have had a consistent group of pitchers in their rotation. They've had the same five starters all season, and before the year I think most would have thought that meant the unit would be in a great place. Instead, as a group, they've been decidedly average. Jaime Garcia has been their best pitcher and Adam Wainwright has surprisingly been their worst.
Who to watch: Hitter
Aledmys Diaz has exploded upon the scene with a rookie campaign that no one was expecting. Diaz has succeeded so far this season with a simple strategy of hitting the ball hard. His K rate is under 10 percent and his walk rate has been hovering around half of that, but putting the ball in play is a successful strategy when your hard hit rate is over 40 percent and weak hit rate is under 20 percent.
Who to watch: Pitcher
Wainwright is still trying to get his season going. After missing most of last season with a torn ACL, he has struggled, posting his worst K/9, BB/9 and HR/9 of his career. The Cardinals are hoping that it's just rust and he'll bounce back as the season progresses. Wainwright will be starting the second game of the series and hopefully the Rockies will be able to prolong his struggles at least one start longer.
Game times, TV, probable pitchers (all times MT)
Tuesday, May 17, 6:15 p.m.: Chad Bettis vs. Jaime Garcia
TV: ROOT Sports; Streaming: MLB.TV; Radio: 850 KOA
Wednesday, May 18, 6:15 p.m.: Chris Rusin vs. Adam Wainwright
TV: ROOT Sports; Streaming: MLB.TV; Radio: 850 KOA
Thursday, May 19, 5:15 p.m.: Jon Gray vs. Michael Wacha
TV: ROOT Sports; Streaming: MLB.TV; Radio: 850 KOA
For more information, check out the best source for St. Louis Cardinals news, Viva El Birdos.