This may be the road trip we all feared. The long journey to the east coast where the offense disappears like snow in July.
So far, the Rockies are 1-3 in their first four games, have scored a grand total of five runs, and are just 1-27 with runners in scoring position. This is also part of a growing problem with the Rockies offense of late as the team has only scored more than three runs in four of the last 16 games.
With a lefty on the mound for the Phillies today, the Rockies will sit Charlie Blackmon and insert Drew Stubbs into the leadoff spot. Charlie Culberson will get the start at third while DJ LeMahieu stays at second and Josh Rutledge sits on the bench. Other than that, the rest of the lineup is pretty normal.
On the mound, the Rockies have their hottest pitcher in Jorge De La Rosa. After a rough start to the season, De La Rosa has posted a 2.03 ERA in his last seven starts and would probably have six consecutive wins if the rains didn't come and mess with the suspended game against the Giants last Thursday.
The Rockies will likely need De La Rosa to pitch well again as their slumping offense will be matched up against Cole Hamels tonight. However, Hamels hasn't been quite as strong as the Cole Hamels as we're used to. Here's the OPS hitters have posted against Hamels over the last five seasons...
2010: .693
2011: .596
2012: .661
2013: .698
2014: .758
There's an important note here however; Hamels started the season on the DL and was very mediocre during his first three starts. Since then, he's gone seven innings three outings in a row while giving up a total of five runs. In other words, I'd be surprised if we got anything but his best tonight. If the Rockies are going to win, it almost has to come in a low scoring game.
Also, there's some storms moving into the Philadelphia area right now, so this game may not get started on time.
When it does get underway, the lineups will look like this.
UPDATE:
The game is officially in a delay as heavy rain and thunderstorms have invaded the Philadelphia area. There's no expected start time right now, but it does look like the game will be played tonight looking at the radar. Of course, we'll update you when we get new information.
UPDATE #2:
The game is now scheduled to start at 8:25 p.m. ET / 6:25 p.m. MT per Thomas Harding...
#Phillies have announced an 8:25 p.m. ET/ 6:25 MT start time for their game with the #Rockies
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) May 28, 2014