Colorado Rockies game no. 105 thread: Ryan Feltner vs. Yu Darvish

There are plenty of eyes on the San Diego flight radar. How many innings can the Rockies squeak in before Juan Soto suits up in the brown and gold?

It will take a valiant and perhaps unreasonable effort to get Soto in uniform for his Padres debut at some point during today’s doubleheader, of course. For a Rockies pitching staff tasked with a five-game series in four days, at least the early half of the set will feature a presumed Soto-less lineup.

Game 1 of todays two-game set will feature Ryan Feltner in his return to the Rockies starting rotation. His last appearance came in relief on Friday against the Dodgers, a 3 ¹⁄₃-inning, scoreless outing with only three hits allowed. The Rockies trailed 2-5 for the duration of his appearance, but a great showing against a tough Dodgers lineup has built his momentum back after a Triple-A demotion on June 27. Today will be his second MLB appearance since posting an 8.64 ERA with the Rockies in June.

In early July, Feltner was placed on Triple-A Albuquerque’s seven-day injured list due to back soreness. He returned for three appearances with the Isotopes (3 GS, 13 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4.05 ERA) and was later called up for his MLB appearance on Friday, sent back down to Triple-A on Saturday, and recalled again prior to Game 1 of today’s doubleheader. The RotoWire staff has suggested Feltner is likely bound for Albuquerque right after his start, barring any pitching departures in advance of the 4 p.m. MDT trade deadline.

San Diego’s Yu Darvish takes the mound this afternoon for his 20th start of the season. He has thrown exactly seven innings in each of his last four starts, a welcomed sight for a Padres bullpen on the day of a doubleheader. Darvish posted a 3.18 ERA in July, on course with his 3.24 season figure, and without a blow-up performance on April 12 (1 ²⁄₃ IP, 9 ER), he would be holding a 2.61 ERA this year.

Darvish throw six pitches, according to Baseball Savant. His most-used pitch this year has been his cutter at a mere 36.3%, and with the ability to run a fastball in the mid-90’s, Darvish has an extremely unpredictable pitch mix when he’s ahead in the count. His cutter use jumps to 62.1% when he’s behind in counts, however.

The Rockies bullpen has plenty of top options available: Daniel Bard, Alex Colomé and Lucas Gilbreath have not pitched since Saturday, and will presumably throw at some point in today’s 18 innings of action.

San Diego has a fresh Josh Hader as he awaits his Padres debut, having not pitched since Friday. Setup man Luís Garcia earned a save in each of the past two days and reliever Nick Martinez threw 31 pitches on Monday, so both are likely unavailable for today’s doubleheader.

Also of Rockies note: C.J. Cron and José Iglesias remain in the starting lineup, quieting any indications of trade deadline movement.

First Pitch: 2:10 p.m. MDT

TV: AT&T Sports Net Rocky Mountain (COL), Bally Sports San Diego (SD); MLB.TV

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

Lineups: