Colorado Rockies game no. 132 thread: Chad Kuhl vs. Spencer Strider

We’ve got a series victory on the line this evening! A one-run victory and one-run defeat has led up to this Game 3 rubber match between the Rockies and Braves, and with the series run total tied 3-3, both clubs have played a similar game.

Atlanta will open the series rubber match with Spencer Strider, holder of a 2.87 ERA. One of the Braves’ workhorses down the 2022 stretch, Strider has allowed a single run in five of his last six starts. He holds the second-best strikeout percentage in baseball (36.7%), and with a WHIP narrowly above one, opposing teams have been forced to take serious advantage on any mistake pitch that Strider throws. With an average fastball at 98.2 MPH, you won’t find many starters with the velocity and workload of this Atlanta right-hander.

Walk percentage (8.8%) is his only slider on Baseball Savant with a blue shade. With a mainly-two-pitch mix of fastballs and sliders (and a lefty-only changeup), it would seem that fastball command is the primary source of Strider’s potential mistakes. He’s got the luxury of Atlanta sea level this afternoon, but Rockies hitters have fortunately seen two games of acclimation in the Braves’ home ballpark.

Chad Kuhl takes the hill for the Rockies, one start removed from a stint on the injured list (right hip) that kept him sidelined for 22 days. He last pitched on Saturday against the Mets, allowing five runs on five hits. It was still a better showing than his previous outing before the injury (@ SD; 8 H, 9 R), but also a different tale than the 1.90 ERA that he posted in the first month of the season.

Kuhl now holds a 5.17 ERA on the year. With an offseason of rest on the horizon for injured starter prospects Ryan Rolison and Peter Lambert, and with veterans Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela recently extended, a player like Kuhl could be in need of a statement September.

First Pitch: 5:20 p.m. MDT

TV: AT&T Sports Net Rocky Mountain (COL), Bally Sports South (ATL); MLB.TV

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

Lineups: