Phillies Series Preview: at Colorado Rockies

The Philadelphia Phillies head out to Denver for a weekend series with the host Colorado Rockies at Coors Field that will lead into the MLB All-Star break.

The Phillies are back on a roll, winners of 10 of their last 13 games, as they head out to Coors Field and a four-game long weekend in Denver against the host Colorado Rockies.

The Rockies, meanwhile, are attempting to right their ship after a recent slide that saw them lose six straight to drop the club below the .500 mark on the season. They currently stand at 38-45 (pending a Wednesday late game in San Francisco.)

The Phils are flying west after taking five of six on a homestand against the defending world champion Kansas City Royals and the division rival Atlanta Braves, while the Rox come home from a losing visit to California against their NL West Division rival Dodgers and Giants.

Before scoring seven runs to break up that recent six game losing skid with a 7-3 win over San Francisco on Tuesday, the big problem of late for Colorado had been scoring runs. The Rockies crossed the plate a total of just three times in their previous four games.

This is a Colorado team capable of huge offensive outbursts, however. They have scored in double digits 10 times this year, including 17 runs twice. They have recorded at least six runs 35 times over 83 games (42%), and that is not all in the rarefied Mile High air of Denver.

Leading the Rockies offensive attack are a pair of NL All-Stars, 3rd baseman Nolan Arenado and right fielder Carlos Gonzalez.

The 25-year old Arenado is hitting for a .290/.365/.579 slash line with 23 home runs, 69 RBI, 59 runs scored, all team highs.

CarGo leads the club with an even 100 hits, and has produced a .315/.364/.555 slash line with 18 homers, 51 RBI, and 54 runs scored.

23-year old rookie shortstop Trevor Story has mashed 19 homers with 50 RBI, but much of his production came in bunches early in the season, with 10 of his longballs coming back in April.

Center fielder Charlie Blackmon is an all-around threat with a dozen homers, 43 RBI, 48 runs, and eight steals while producing a .306/.373/.500 slash line.

2nd baseman D.J. LeMahieu is enjoying his second straight strong season, batting for a .328 average and recording a .395 on-base percentage. He is second on the club with seven stolen bases.

Walt Weiss is a popular ex-Rockies player in his fourth season at the helm. He has yet to enjoy a winning campaign, which is causing some of the original popularity to diminish. Overall his career record as skipper is 246-323, and the 74-88 of his first season in 2013 was the team’s best in his tenure.

When going to the bullpen, Weiss calls upon left-hander Jake McGee to close things out. The longtime Tampa Bay Rays reliever came to Colorado in a four-player trade back in January with outfielder Corey Dickerson heading south.

McGee has a 4.88 ERA and has allowed 29 hits over 24 innings with a 19/7 K:BB ratio as he learns first-hand what everyone in the industry knows: it’s rough being a pitcher when your home ballpark is a mile in the air.

Related Story: CarGo, Arenado to Rep Rockies at All-Star Game

One reliever who is thriving despite the conditions is another southpaw, Boone Logan, who has just a 3.27 ERA while allowing just 14 hits over 22 innings with a 28/8 K:BB ratio. Those are nearly miraculous numbers for a Colorado hurler.

The righties are veterans Jason Motte and Chad Qualls, youngsters Carlos Estevez and Jordan Lyles, and 28-year old German Gonzalez. They have produced mixed results, with Motte being most effective.

This series will be an excellent test for the rejuvenated Fightin’ Phils. The atmosphere in Colorado is highly conducive to a continuation of their recent powerful offensive production.

However, it will really be the ability of the young starting pitchers to deal with that mile-high altitude and the effect that it has on their pitches that should tell the story.

Winning for a pitcher at Coors Field is about staying mentally tough, keeping your team in the game as best you can, and basically surviving.

Next: PHILLIES - ROCKIES PITCHING MATCHUPS

PHILLIES AT ROCKIES PITCHING MATCHUPS

THURSDAY: Adam Morgan (1-6, 6.31 ERA) vs Chad Bettis (6-6, 5.85 ERA): Bettis is a 27-year old righty in his fourth big league season after being selected by the Rockies with their 2nd round pick in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft out of Texas Tech. After beginning in the bullpen over his first two season, Bettis moved into the Rox rotation a year ago and had success. This year his ERA is up almost a run and a half, and he has been torched for 121 hits over 95.1 innings. He has allowed at least four earned runs in six of his last eight outings, and has been particularly bad over his last eight starts. In that time he has allowed 65 hits over 39.1 innings with an 8.24 ERA and a .369 opponents batting average against. Morgan is making a spot start in place of Aaron Nola, who is being given a mental break until after the All-Star break. Morgan was moved from the rotation to the bullpen after failing as a starter. This is an opportunity for him to show, in a tough environment, that he could still help the Phillies in that role if an opening develops down the road.

FRIDAY: Vincent Velasquez (7-2, 3.34 ERA) vs Jon Gray (5-4, 4.81 ERA): Gray is a 24-year old technical rookie who made nine starts in the 2015 season. The 3rd overall pick of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Oklahoma became one of the top prospects in baseball over the next couple of seasons, and has proven mentally tough enough to handle Coors up to this point. He has allowed just 72 hits over 82.1 innings this season with an 87/27 K:BB ratio. Perhaps more importantly, he has just one blowup game among his eight starts this year at home. Vinny has been the Phils best starter at times, and looks to continue trying to show that he has front-of-the-rotation mental makeup.

SATURDAY: Jerad Eickhoff (6-9, 3.30 ERA) vs Tyler Anderson (0-3, 3.03 ERA): Anderson is a 26-year old rookie lefty making just his sixth career start after being selected by the Rockies with the 20th overall pick in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Oregon. He has given the Rockies innings, lasting at least 5.2 in each of his previous five outings over which he has allowed just 30 hits in 29.2 innings with a 26/6 K:BB ratio. Just two of his starts have been at Coors, a pair of losses to tough Miami and San Francisco clubs in which he pitched well in each. Eickhoff has been the Phillies most consistent starting pitcher. The pleasant surprise from the Cole Hamels trade last July, he has 10 Quality Starts among his 17 thus far, including five of his last seven outings.

SUNDAY: Zach Eflin (1-2, 4.30 ERA) vs Tyler Chatwood (8-4, 3.08 ERA): Chatwood is a 26-year old righty who was the Angels 2nd round pick in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft out of a California high school. He came to Colorado in a November 2011 trade for catcher Chris Iannetta, and has been a career .500 pitcher. However, in this, his fifth big league season, Chatwood has been outstanding, allowing just 79 hits over 90.2 innings. All but one of his home starts have been strong as well. One problem for Chatwood has been walks, and the Phillies hitters would do well to show plate discipline against him. Eflin as been a revelation. Over his last four starts he has improved incrementally, until he tossed a complete game gem in his last outing against Atlanta. Tossing out his debacle of a debut, Eflin has allowed just 21 hits in 26.2 innings over which he has walked just one batter.

Next: PHILLIES KEYS TO VICTORY IN THE MILE-HIGH CITY

PHILLIES KEYS TO VICTORY OVER ROCKIES

STARTING PITCHING STAYS MENTALLY TOUGH: the Phils are starting a quartet of young pitchers in this series, none of whom has ever thrown at Coors Field. Even for a veteran, this is a difficult atmosphere. That is meant literally, not figuratively. The air in Denver, a city set a mile above sea level, will flatten out their curve balls, do crazy things with their other breaking pitches, and balls hit against them will tend to carry in the warm summer air. All that, and Coors has some of the more spacious outfield power alleys in the game. They need to just keep making pitches, try to keep the ball down, out of the middle of the zone. Most of all, they cannot let down mentally if they allow a handful of runs – that is to be expected here.

MATCH THE ROCKIES OFFENSE BLOW-FOR-BLOW: the Phillies have the best offensive attack in the game over the last few weeks, an incredible statement when you consider just how poor that lineup production was over the season’s first two and a half months. The Phils have scored 87 runs over the last 15 games, or nearly six per game. Maikel Franco has been powering up, homering in four straight. NL All-Star Odubel Herrera and scorching-hot right fielder Peter Bourjos need to keep producing hits in bunches at the top of the order, providing RBI opportunities for Franco, Cody Asche, Cameron Rupp, and Tommy Joseph, and those middle-of-the-order bats need to keep driving them home. CarGo, Arenado and company will produce offense. The Phillies bats need to keep up with them.

MAINTAIN AND EXTEND THE MOMENTUM: the Phillies enter this series on a four-game win streak, having taken eight of their last nine, and 10 of the last 13 games. They have worked hard to get back within a half-dozen games of the .500 mark, and a series victory here in Colorado would bring them within serious reach of that break-even point on their season, setting up a nice goal as next week’s MLB All-Star break ends and they resume play with a seven game homestand against division the division rival Mets and Marlins beginning next weekend.

Next: PHILLIES TV & RADIO BROADCAST SCHEDULE

PHILLIES – ROCKIES TV & RADIO BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Next: LONG WEEKEND WEATHER AT COORS FIELD

PHILLIES – ROCKIES INJURIES / DISABLED LISTS

Colorado Rockies

Philadelphia Phillies

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