The Colorado Rockies pushed the Los Angeles Dodgers to a Game 163 last season before ending up in the Wild Card game. The Dodgers won their seventh straight division title. The Rockies once again represent the biggest threat to Los Angeles in the division. The two teams will wrap up their first series of the season on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. And the Rockies will close out their first home series of the year.
First pitch for the game between the Dodgers and Rockies is scheduled for Sunday, April 7, 2019, at 8:37 p.m. ET at Coors Field. The matchup will be shown on ESPN.
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Odds Analysis
The Dodgers got the best of the Rockies in their head-to-head meetings last year, including when it counted in Game 163. Overall, Los Angeles won 13 of their 20 meetings with a +32 run differential in those games.
Los Angeles, however, comes into this series with some concerns in the back end of their bullpen. Kenley Jansen, of course, is a lockdown closer, but getting to him has been an issue.
Joe Kelly was brought in to bridge the gap, but he’s been directly responsible for both losses the Dodgers have faced so far, but he’s not the only bullpen arm struggling. He’s allowed six runs in three innings of work, but Brock Stewart, Pedro Baez and Yimi Garcia have all allowed at last three runs in fewer than four innings.
Jansen can lock things down if the team can get to him, but at this point that’s far from a sure thing.
On the other side of this matchup, the Rockies’ bullpen has been much more reliable, but the offense has been slow to come around. The Dodgers’ offense, on the other hand, is off to a very fast start.
The Dodgers have 18 home runs in their first seven games along with 55 runs scored, but much of that damage came in the opening series against Arizona. The Dodgers scored just 13 in a three-game set against the Giants.
For the Rockies, the offense should pick up with a return to Coors Field. Right now, coming into the series, the team had hit just two home runs with Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon, notably, not hitting all that well.
Probable Pitchers
There’s an interesting matchup slated for this primetime showdown with the Rockies turning to their elder statesman in right-hander Chad Bettis and the Dodgers going with their talented youngster in southpaw Julio Urias. This is a battle between the Rockies’ oldest start and the Dodgers’ youngest.
Bettis offers more experience than Urias, but the 30-year old didn’t even make his major league debut until he was a couple years older than Urias now. The righty doesn’t have elite stuff and isn’t a top of the rotation arm. Instead, he’s spent parts of seven years in the majors bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen.
Ultimately, he’s pitched to a cumulative 5.06 ERA and 93 ERA+, putting as a slightly below average pitcher and solid No.5 type arm.
His best year came in 2015 when he started 20 games with a 4.23 ERA. He went 14-8 with a 4.79 the next year. His ERA ballooned over five the last two years.
Like most starters, Bettis is a much better pitcher on the road than at Coors Field. His Coors ERA is 5.67 though his home run numbers aren’t that bad given the park.
That said, Bettis did give up a couple bombs in his first start, allowing six runs in 5.2 innings. In his career against the Dodgers, he’s 2-2 with a 4.85 ERA in 65 innings.
As for Urias, he comes into this game fresh off an impressive season debut, holding the Giants scoreless over five innings.
San Francisco doesn’t boast a prolific offense, but it was still a nice step forward for the young southpaw after missing most of the last two seasons with injuries.
The youngster came to the Majors at 19-years old and pitched well in 18 games, going 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA in 77 innings, but has battled injuries since. He’s now healthy and his first results on the year were good. He’ll now try and build on that against a much more difficult offense.
The former top prospect still possess elite stuff and the ability to get strikeouts at an impressive rate. He pitched very well in spring training and is embracing this chance to start. Once all the arms get off the injured list, he may go back to the pen for innings limit purposes, but he’ll do his best to make a claim to hold a starting spot as long as he can.
Pitching in Coors Field, however, offers a challenge to that goal. He’s faced the Rockies three times, pitching 11 innings and giving up 10 runs on 16 hits. Nine of those runs came in seven innings at Coors.
Live Betting
There are a couple interesting matchups to watch for in this game, including the Dodgers’ prolific left-handed bats against Mike Dunn, the LOOGY for the Rockies, who may get a chance in a key spot in the game. With Jake McGee on the IL, Dunn becomes the key chess piece in the lefty/righty battle for Rockies’ skipper Bud Black.
Of course, in that situation, the Dodgers could go with pinch hitter, particularly if David Freese is on the bench still, but Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger have been the Dodgers’ hottest hitters to this point, but neither have done well in their careers against Dunn.
Another potential matchup to watch is Arenado and Blackmon against Urias. Given Urias’ age and inexperience, nobody has a ton of at bats against him, but the Rockies’ two biggest offensive pieces are a combined 5-for-7 against him with a pair of doubles and a walk.
MLB Pick
Urias has electric stuff when he’s own, but pitching against the Rockies in Coors will be a challenge and one that may get in the youngster’s head. Look for the Rockies offense to hit better in comfort of Coors Field while the Dodgers’ bats do their part to keep up the pace.
In the end, neither Urias nor Bettis figure to be long for the game as the bullpens should be in full swing by the sixth.
If that’s the case, the Rockies’ pen has been more reliable to this point. Look for the Dodgers to have a moment where they could break it open, but Mike Dunn has great numbers against the team’s primary lefty batters and should it down if he comes in for the key out.
This could be a high scoring game. In the end, give it to the Rockies’ and their bullpen at home over the Dodgers.
MLB Odds: Rockies 8, Dodgers 6
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