Colorado Rockies game no. 1 thread: Walker Buehler vs. Kyle Freeland

After a long and weird offseason, it’s finally Opening Day!

The Colorado Rockies (74-87) will open their 30th season at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers (106-56) for the second straight season. It’s also just the ninth time the Rockies will open a season at home in franchise history (eighth at Coors Field). And as an added bonus, it is MLB.tv’s Free Game of the Day!

Denver native Kyle Freeland is entering his sixth season and hitting the opening start trifecta today. He debuted during the Home Opener in 2017; pitched his first Opening Day against Miami in 2019; and now makes his second Opening Day start at home. With his start this afternoon, Freeland will tie nine other Rockies pitchers for the most Opening Day starts in franchise history. He now sits enshrined amongst names such as Germán Márquez, Jon Gray, Jorge De La Rosa, Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, Jason Jennings, Mike Hampton, Darryl Kile and Kevin Ritz.

Freeland will duel Dodgers’ right-hander (and Purple Row’s Cy Young favorite) Walker Buehler. Buehler, like Freeland, is entering his sixth season. In 103 career games (94 starts), he has posted a 40-13 record, 2.90 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and held opponents to a .206/.263/.340 slash line. He ranks fourth among pitchers (min. 350 IP) with .612 opponents’ OPS, behind only Jacob deGrom (.591), Chris Sale (.609) and Max Scherzer (.609).

Now, the Rockies have a 16-13 record on Opening Day, including a 5-3 record in Denver (5-2 at Coors Field). They also rank above the Dodgers in winning percentage on Opening Day (.552, 16-13, 2nd; .542, 71-60, 5th). Last year they thrashed the Dodgers 8-5. Can they do it again?

Start Time: 2:10 p.m. MDT

TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, MLB.tv

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Lineups: