The last time the Rockies played Randy Wolf during a regular season contest, Garrett Atkins and Troy Tulowitzki took him deep and we pounded him for seven runs in four innings. The last time the team played him in California, he pitched seven shutout innings and didn't even allow a hit until Brad Hawpe got a single against him with one out in the seventh.
The personnel of the team he will play tonight will be more like the team he wishes to forget than the one he's trying to remember (no more Jayson Nix or Willy Taveras), but the location of the game will be a lot closer to his happier memory.
Wolf's most recent start against the Diamondbacks should not have gone as successfully as it did had the opposing team shown any plate discipline. Not including an intentional walk, Wolf threw an average of 3.5 pitches to the 24 batters he faced, including nine plate appearances where he retired a batter on either the first or second pitch of the at bat. Not once did the D-backs get a hit when they swung that early off of him, and this is similar to how he was so effective against the Rockies last April. Batters shouldn't have to worry about the first pitch being the best from a pitcher who can only crank it up to 90 mph tops but usually sits around 87. If the Rockies take their time, they should be able to crack Wolf.
As for JDLR, we know his deal. His Spring start against the Dodgers was similar to his start against the Phillies last week, where he looked dominating at first but then inexplicably fell apart a few innings into it. We could use a full six from him tonight.
Go Rockies!