Cincinnati Reds vs Colorado Rockies – Series Preview – The Cincinnati Reds won a series! Against a division rival too. Even the game that they lost was competitive, so it really could have been a sweep. The Reds need to carry forward that momentum to Colorado. Cincinnati faces a 3 game set against a very poor Rockies team in Denver. The Rockies will run out three starters that wouldn’t make Cincinnati’s roster. Let’s break down how the Cincinnati Reds match up against the Colorado Rockies.
Cincinnati Reds Notebook
The Cincinnati Reds will run out Andrew Abbott followed by Frankie Montas and then Graham Ashcraft on Wednesday to wrap up the series. With Lodolo back in the fold, its crazy to think these three are the bottom three of the rotation. The Cincinnati Reds pitching staff has been incredible – at least compared to previous years.
That being said, Abbot is coming in off a rough start in which he gave up 6 to the Cardinals. Montas put in a solid 6 innings of 3 run ball. Ashcraft gave up 3 over 5 innings of work last time out against the Cubs. Overall, it works out directly in the Reds favor that these three are the ones to face the Rockies. Greene and Lodolo will be available against the Cubs in the next series.
The bats awoke against the Cubs over the weekend. The Cincinnati Reds scored 5 runs in each ballgame. That kind of hitting will win you 90 games a season. Let’s hope the lineup stays awake. I noted yesterday that TJ was due to breakout and then he hit a 3 run bomb off Steele. Look for him to keep getting on base. India is batting .300 over his last 7. Fraley is hitting a monstrous .385 over his last 7 and he gets to feast on some struggling starters coming up – two are RHP. Be patient with Elly – hopefully a change of scenery and the Denver air will produce a moonshot.
Colorado Rockies Notebook
The Rockies will run out Ryan Feltner tonight, Ty Blach tomorrow, and Dakota Hudson on Wednesday. I will cover each of these guys more in depth in the game previews, but its rough. Hudson is the only one that could sniff a shot on the Reds rotation. Feltner has 6 starts that he has given up 5+ runs on the season. Big yikes. Their team ERA is a league worst – 5.18.
The Rockies do have some good hitters though. Ezequiel Tovar, Brendan Rodgers, Ryan McMahon, Elias Diaz, and Brenton Doyle are all hitting .260+ with full workloads this year. Their team batting average of .247 is actually 10th best in the bigs. They do not hit a lot of homers though ranking 26th in that category with 49 on the season – more than the Reds mind you. McMahon has 10 homers on the season.
Colorado Rockies Highlighted Hitter – Ryan McMahon
McMahon has been a menace this year. Slashing .284/.371/.470 and smashing 10 homers on the year, McMahon is the guy to watch out for on this Colorado ball club. He’s actually on a bit of a skid right now, but that just shows how hot he has been to this point. He bats left but feasts on LHP, so Andrew Abbott will need to watch out since homers are his main problem.
McMahon’s statcast is a bit scary for teams getting ready to pitch to him. He ranks in the 75th percentile or better in Batting Run Value (88th), xBA (78th), xSLG (86th), Average Exit Velocity (96th – 93.5 MPH), Barrel % (88th), Hard Hit % (97th), and BB % (83rd). Those are some wildly consistent numbers. He hits the ball well and he hits the ball HARD. He’s also patient and walks a ton. This guy is not an easy out.
