After a pair of losses in yesterday’s split squad action, the Rockies will send Jordan Lyles to the mound in hopes of a better turnout against the defending ALCS champion Kansas City Royals. The Rockies beat the Royals 6-2 on Sunday.
Kansas City’s starting pitcher will be veteran lefty, Jason Vargas. Vargas’ arsenal consists primarily of a four seam fastball, changeup and knuckle curve. His velocity won’t blow anyone away, with his fastball averaging right around 88mph, and the fly ball tendency of his changeup could bode very well for this powerful Rockies lineup. To follow Vargas, the Royals have elite relievers Wade Davis and Greg Holland slated to make appearances.
Keep an eye on Jordan Lyles’ continued use of his remastered changeup. If he can manage to keep fly balls to a dull roar, the pitch could really cement Lyles into his role in the Rockies’ rotation. Jordan is making his fourth start of the spring -- having yet to factor into a decision -- with an ERA at 1.29 in his seven innings. Brothers, Betancourt, Axford and Ottavino are among those set to take over in later innings.
Drew Stubbs will make his second consecutive start, and if we’re making bets on who might take Vargas deep, my money is on that guy. Stubbs knocked his second dinger of the spring in yesterday’s contest with the Padres, bringing his OPS up over 1.000. Stubbs will play center field, batting second behind Charlie Blackmon.
Kansas City’s lineup:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash">#Royals</a> lineup for today's scheduled game vs Colorado. Listen on <a href="http://t.co/f8itFMu0qK">http://t.co/f8itFMu0qK</a> at 3:05 CT. <a href="http://t.co/N0LsbmCdQY">pic.twitter.com/N0LsbmCdQY</a></p>— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/578588153893642240">March 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Colorado’s lineup:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rockies?src=hash">#Rockies</a> lineup vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash">#Royals</a> at Surprise, Ariz. <a href="http://t.co/zle0PutKEB">pic.twitter.com/zle0PutKEB</a></p>— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) <a href="https://twitter.com/harding_at_mlb/status/578593865310945280">March 19, 2015</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tune into today's game at 2:05 MT through Gameday audio from MLB.com.