2023 Opponent: Colorado Rockies

by — May 15, 2023 in Opponent Previews

The 17-24 Colorado Rockies host the 18-22 Cincinnati Reds for a three-game series at Coors Field in Denver. The two teams share more than sub-.500 records.

That the Reds haven’t won a postseason series since 1995 is a sad but well known fact for the team’s fans. The Rockies can match our postseason futility in certain respects. Since they were swept by the Red Sox in the 2007 World Series (Willy Taveras was their CF), the Rockies have only appeared in eight postseason games. Of those, they have won one, and that was in 2009. Their most recent postseason games were in 2017 and 2018, the former being a 1-and-out loss in the Wild Card play-in game.

Since they began as an expansion team in 1993, the Rockies have never won their division, finishing 2nd four times in 30 seasons. Their 68-94 record in 2022 was good for last in their division and 43 games behind the LA Dodgers. The Reds lost 100 games last year, 31 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

Also much like the Reds, the Rockies faced financial uncertainty this season due to the shaky status of their broadcast partner. While the Reds ultimately have been paid by Bally Sports, in the Rockies case AT&T Sports Net did reneg on their $40-50 million right fee. Instead of slashing payroll by $30+ million like the Reds did, Rockies owner Charlie Monfort boosted his payroll from $136 million to $173 million.

  • Monday (8:40 pm)
  • Tuesday (8:40 pm)
  • Wednesday (3:10 pm)

The Rockies were 4-2 against the Reds last year, sweeping the three games in Colorado and outscoring David Bell’s team 24-8. Veteran skipper Bud Black has led the Rockies since 2017.

Offseason

The Rockies offseason was also similar to that of the Reds: one lower-tier free agent signing and a bunch of curb shopping. Colorado did spend up a bit on a couple relief pitchers.

  • Jurickson Profar (OF) free agent, 1 year, $7.75 million
  • Harold Castro (2B) free agent, arbitration $1.3 million
  • Mike Moustakas (1B/3B) waivers, 1 year, league minimum
  • Connor Seabold (SP) trade, Boston, league minimum
  • Pierce Johnson (RP) free agent, 1 year, $5 million
  • Brent Suter (RP) waivers, arbitration, $3 million
  • Brad Hand (RP) free agent, 1 year, $3 million
  • Nick Mears (RP) free agent

At the top end of their payroll, you have Kris Bryant making $28 million, Charlie Blackmon at $15 million and Kyle Freeland pulling in $10.5 million.

Position Players

The Rockies offense ranks near the bottom, like the Reds. They are 29th in wRC+ (Reds 26th), 24th in ISO power (Reds 26th), 10th in batting average (Reds 14th) and 23rd in walk rate (Reds 18). You might wonder how the Rockies hit in the high altitude of Coors Field. Looking at “home” splits, they still rank 28th overall, 17th in power and 2nd in batting average. The Rockies aren’t much of a threat to run. They’re next-to-last in the league with 13 stolen bases.

Two Rockies players — CJ Cron and Ryan McMahon — have put up ISO power numbers better than the league average of .159. Kris Bryant has five homers, but his overall ISO is .146.

Here are the 13 Rockies position players with their 2023 stats through Saturday.

Former first-round pick 2B Brendan Rodgers is on the IL (shoulder surgery).

The Rockies have been working OF Randal Grichuk into their lineup. Grichuk missed the first month recovering from offseason hernia surgery. Here is a close guess of Bud Black’s batting order against a right-handed starter:

1. Charlie Blackmon (L)
2. Jurickson Profar (S)
3. Kris Bryant (R)
4. C.J. Cron (R)
5. Elias Diaz (R)
6. Ryan McMahon (L)
7. Randal Grichuk (R)
8. Harold Castro (L)
9. Ezequiel Tovar (R)
Pitchers

As a staff, the Rockies rank 22nd in ERA at 4.77 (Reds 26th at 4.93), 24th in xFIP (Reds 17th) and 21st in xERA (Reds 18th). Here is our chart for Rockies pitchers through Saturday.

Starting Rotation

Rockies ace Kyle Freeland pitched yesterday. Ryan Feltner started Saturday. Here are the series’ probable starters:

  • Monday Hunter Greene vs. Connor Seabold
  • Tuesday TBA vs. Chase Anderson
  • Wednesday Graham Ashcraft vs. Austin Gomber
Bullpen

Overall, the Rockies bullpen ranks in the upper part of the middle of the pack. They have an impressive collection of xERA and K% (see the chart). 

The right-handed Pierce Johnson has been Colorado’s closer with last-year’s guy Daniel Bard (34 saves) sidelined earlier in the season with anxiety. Bard is back from the IL and working lower-leverage spots. Justin Lawrence (R) and Bruce Suter (L) are the set-up guys.

The 32-year-old Johnson throws a curve for more than 50% of his pitches. A 95-mph fastball makes up most of the rest of his portfolio.

Conclusion

The Reds and Rockies are evenly matched. Edge to Colorado because of their home field advantage.

Image: Rockies Twitter

Tags:

Steve Mancuso

Steve Mancuso is a lifelong Reds fan who grew up during the Big Red Machine era. He’s been writing about the Reds for more than ten years. Steve’s fondest memories about the Reds include attending a couple 1975 World Series games, being at Homer Bailey’s second no-hitter and going nuts for Jay Bruce at Clinchmas. Steve was also at all three games of the 2012 NLDS, but it’s too soon to talk about that.

Subscribe to RC+ via Email

Get an email every time we publish a new post!

Reds Content Plus is a site for passionate fans of the Cincinnati Reds. Our staff of independent writers covers the performance of Reds players and the strategies of the Reds manager and front office. Our content builds on what you’ll find at other Reds fan sites. What separates RC+ is our use of (and explaining) advanced statistical measures. Whether it’s a sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, stolen base, bullpen use, pinch hitting or pulling the starting pitcher, we’ll dig into the numbers. If you want to support us, check out our Support Page.