Pirates vs. Rockies preview: Game times, TV schedule, live streaming info, matchups and more

Coming off Sunday's disappointing loss, the Colorado Rockies look to rebound against their former manager Clint Hurdle and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Rockies have rearranged their rotation for the series to give Jorge De La Rosa an extra day off to recover from an illness that affected him this past week.

The Pittsburgh Pirates enter the series with a 10-9 record and a season that in many ways reflects that of the Rockies so far. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the expectations for them were considerably higher than they were for the Rockies and their pitching struggles are putting a severe damper on those expectations.

The Pirates are coming to Coors after taking two of three games from the Diamondbacks for their third series win of the season. However, the Bucs have yet to win back-to-back series, a trend that will hopefully continue this week.

Pirates Power Rankings

Really Good: Lineup

The Pirates have had little to no trouble scoring runs this season; they are sixth in the majors in runs scored and third with a 120 wRC+. Interestingly enough, they are next to last in home runs with 11, but have made up for it with the second highest walk rate and third lowest strikeout rate among all teams. The low strikeout rate has combined nicely with their league-leading .355 BABIP, allowing the Pirates to score runs without hitting it out of the park.

The Pirates' defense has also looked good by the metrics and when combined with their offensive production puts the club's positional players first in the majors in fWAR.

Really Bad: Rotation

The Pirates' starters are worse than the Rockies in about every meaningful measure, and as many Rockies fans could attest after this past weekend, that's not a very high standard. Pittsburgh's rotation averages about the same number of innings as the Rockies, while striking out out fewer batters and also issuing the most walks of any rotation in baseball, with 4.68 BB/9. They have allowed slightly fewer home runs than the Rockies starters, but considering that the latter has played half of their games at Coors Field, that's not saying much.

Really Bad: Bullpen

The Pirates' pen is in about the same shape as their rotation with very similar ratios across the board. As much as fans worry about the Rockies' bullpen wearing out, Pirates relievers have thrown six more innings in only one more game so far this season. Combined with the Rockies' own pitching struggles of late, a high-scoring series is probably coming to town this weekend.

Who to watch: Hitter

Gregory Polanco was one of the top prospects in all of baseball a few years ago before his much-awaited and disappointing debut for the Pirates. Since then, he's struggled the past few seasons, posting a wRC+ of 88 and 94 in 2014 and 2015 respectively. This season though, he's started with a bang with nine extra base hits and a 148 wRC+. Whether this is Polanco finally realizing his true talent or just a hot start to the season will still be determined.

Who to watch: Pitcher

After spending last year in the Dodgers' bullpen, there were a lot of expectations that Juan Nicasio was going to join the list of Ray Searage's successful reclamation projects. Nicasio posted some impressive numbers in spring training that seemed to indicate that was indeed going to happen. Once the clock struck midnight and the regular season began, Nicasio's appeared to have turned back into the pumpkin that he was for the Rockies.

His K rate is by far the highest it has in been in his career as a starter and only a little behind what it was as a reliever last year. However, he's posting a walk rate that is over a full walk per nine innings higher than it ever was during his time with the Rockies, and Nicasio is also allowing home runs at a career-high rate despite escaping Coors Field. He's also shown the same struggles to get deep into ball games as high pitch counts and ineffectiveness the second and third time through the lineup has limited him to a five innings per start average.

Game times, TV, probable pitchers (all times MT)

Monday, April 25, 6:40 p.m.: Jeff Locke vs. Chad Bettis
TV: ROOT Sports; Streaming: MLB.TV; Radio: 850 KOA, KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Tuesday, April 26, 6:40 p.m.: Gerrit Cole vs. Jorge De La Rosa
TV: ROOT Sports; Streaming: MLB.TV; Radio: 850 KOA, KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Wednesday, April 27, 6:40 p.m.: Jonathan Niese vs. Jon Gray
TV: ROOT Sports; Streaming: MLB.TV; Radio: 850 KOA, KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Thursday, April 28, 1:10 p.m.: Juan Nicasio vs. Tyler Chatwood
TV: ROOT Sports; Streaming: MLB.TV; Radio: 850 KOA, KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

For more information, check out the best source for Pittsburgh Pirates news, Bucs Dugout