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Houston Astros vrs Colorado Rockies Series Preview

Eric Huysman
Eric Huysman

Climbing Tal's Hill

Jun 9, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel (60) throws a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros are going to be playing in an unusual Inter-league series versus the Colorado Rockies starting Monday. Playing the Rockies is not the unusual part, they will be playing a home-away series against the Rockies. They will be playing two games in Houston, and then fly to Colorado and play two games there. You have to love the MLB schedulers, and they tend to make things interesting.

If the schedule makers are anything like high school counselors should you complain at all about the class load/schedule, you can expect a worse one the next year. So the Astros will say goodbye and hi to the Rockies after the second game. For the sake of this post, let’s treat this as one series. Before we look at the Rockies series, let’s look at the Mariners series where the Astros won it two games to one.

Before we look at the Rockies series, let’s look at the Mariners series where the Astros won it two games to one.

Game 1: Astros win 10-0. The Astros Unload on King Feliz for Eight runs in 1/3 Innings

Game 2: Mariners win 8-1. Collin McHugh struggles in Astros loss to Mariners

Game 3: Astros win 13-0. Astros’ Lance McCullers lights out in series win over Seattle

Summary of the Weekend Series

The Teams

The Houston Astros are 36-28 on the season.

Home: 21-14 Record (Scored 139 runs and allowed 127 runs)

Away: 15-14 Record (Scored 134 runs and allowed 119 runs)

Last ten games: 2-8

The Colorado Rockies are 28-34 on the season.

Home: 13-18 Record (Scored 161 runs and allowed 175 runs)

Away: 15-16 Record (Scored 108 runs and allowed  129 runs)

Last ten games: 4-6

The Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Chad Bettis (2-1, 3.05 ERA) versus Dallas Keuchel (7-2, 1.90 ERA)

  • On the Road, Bettis is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA while striking out ten hitters in 13 innings.
  • At Home, Keuchel is 5-0 with a 1.29 ERA while striking out 46 hitters in 49 innings.

Game 2: Chris Rusin (2-1, 3.38 ERA) versus Vincent Velasquez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

  • On the Road, Rusin is 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA while striking out eight hitters in 17 innings.
  • At Home, Velasquez has not pitched. He has five strikeouts in 5 innings

Game 3: Brett Oberholtzer (1-1, 2.25 ERA) versus Kyle Kendrick (2-8, 5.87 ERA)

  • At Home, Kendrick is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA while striking out 15 hitters in 30.2 innings.
  • On the Road, Oberholtzer is 0-1 with 4.91 ERA while striking out two hitters in 3.2 innings.

Game 4: Collin McHugh (6-3, 5.08 ERA) versus David Hale (2-1, 4.56 ERA)

  • At Home, Hale is 2-0 with a 4.12 ERA while striking out 14 hitters in 19.2 innings.
  • On the Road, McHugh is 2-1 with 3.77 ERA while striking out 29 hitters in 45.1 innings.

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Houston Astros Player News

  • George Springer is hitting .380 with 1 HR and 4 RBI in June.
  • Evan Gattis is coming off a game where he went 4 for 5
  • Jose Altuve is still day to day with hamstring issues but has been working on his plastic cup stacking while sitting on the bench.
  • McHugh is coming off one of his worst starts in his Astros career, giving up eight runs in three innings. I wrote about McHugh here.
  • Carlos Correa has hit two homers in his first six MLB games.
  • Luis Valbuena is leading the Astros with 14 homers and 33 runs scored but is batting .185.

Colorado Rockies Player News.

Next: Q&A Session with Rox Pile (Rockies Fansided Site)

Q&A Session with Rox Pile (Rockies Fansided Site)

Jun 14, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (L) is greeted by third base coach

Stu Cole

(R) after hitting a two run homer against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

CTH: Are the Rockies going to become sellers at the trade deadline? Any idea where players might be on the move too?

ROX: I suppose the question differs from “should they,” and “are they,” though with a new GM in Jeff Bridich. Hopefully, they’ll actually pull the trigger on some moves like the should. I expect them to be active near the deadline with a move or two though they probably won’t make as many moves as most people think. Guys to watch who might get moved include Justin Morneau, Boone Logan if they can somehow convince someone to (a) take his contract, and (b) take his ineffectiveness. Also, Kyle Kendrick (everybody needs starting pitching, as hard as that is to believe), Wilin Rosario (who is without a position but has a great bat).

Sure, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. I do not anticipate either of those guys being moved, but I suppose you never know.

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CTH: What is it like watching Nolan Arenado develop into a star?

ROX: It is amazing. He is the Rockies’ franchise player going forward (no shade to Tulo, it’s just that Arenado represents this next generation of Rockies in the same way Tulo did when he burst onto the scene in 2009 with Todd Helton at the helm). His defense is just… unreal. I compare him to Giancarlo Stanton — even if he’s not on your team, you can’t help but cheer for Arenado if you’re a baseball fan, because you want to see the incredible things he can do on a diamond.

CTH: Were you disappointed you did not get Dillon Tate? Were you surprised when Rodgers was still there with the third pick?

ROX: I really liked Tate and thought the Rockies would be wise to go after college pitching, though they came away top heavy with high schoolers, so their philosophy was obviously different than what we’d anticipated. That being said, the Rockies arguably had the second best draft in baseball (behind you guys, or so everyone says), and getting Brendan Rodgers, who seemed to be the consensus best player available, at #3 was a steal.

CTH: Do you think a Rockie pitcher will ever have prolonged success? Can the team win with the next generation of young pitchers?

ROX: Oh, absolutely – and pitchers have. Look at Jason Jennings, Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez, and right now Jorge De La Rosa. Each of those guys has had some very nice seasons individually, and taken together. They’ve all had nice careers in Denver, though, granted, the definition of success is slightly altered in the Coors Field environment. Nevertheless, De La Rosa may be the best test case for this since he had such incredible success with the Rockies, and specifically, at home. How can a pitcher do so consistently well at Coors Field? Let’s hope De La Rosa is teaching all he knows to Eddie Butler, Jon Gray, Chad Bettis, David Hale, Tyler Matzek, and Jordan Lyles.

CTH: What can you say about the development of Jon Gray?

ROX: Well, he hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a game since April, and after a very rough start to his AAA career, he’s looked much, much better every outing over the past six weeks. The Super-Two deadline is upon us and past, and there’s lots of rumbling that he may be up very, very soon. He’s worth a shot. If the Rockies are out of it (which they are, and will continue to be), it’s worth it to let Gray, Butler, Bettis, and Hale take their lumps and show the Rox what they may have for the next few years.

CTH: I know Troy Tulowitzki has picked up recently, but what caused his early struggles at the plate?

ROX: Early on, he either wasn’t seeing the ball very well or wasn’t patient enough at the plate (and considering his miserable K: BB ratio early, likely both). Now, he’s been able to get on base more consistently, and in turn, has hit for more power in the last two weeks. The Rockies need him to be good if they have any faint hope of winning anything of consequence in any way. Even then, they need 59 other things to go right, too — so his improvement is at least a huge sigh of relief for Rockies fans who were growing increasingly frustrated with him early.

CTH: Which of the Rockies hitters are the hottest at the plate, and which hitters are cold?

ROX: That’s tough — the Marlins destroyed us at their place this weekend, so… nobody? I suppose there are two bats to watch for, though: DJ LeMahieu is at the top of the National League in hitting and took an eight-game hitting streak into the weekend. He’s earned the leadoff and second spot in the order with his consistent hitting this year, after starting the season hitting eighth, and the Gold Glove winner ought to be an All-Star this year. The other one to watch is Corey Dickerson, fresh off the disabled list, who’s hit doubles in his first two games back with the club. Dickerson is a guy who I believe will win a batting title (or two, or three) in his career, a true hitter, and somebody to really watch at the plate.

Thanks to Bobby DeMuro (@BobbyDeMuro) for taking the time to answer my questions. You can find his here.

Next: A Look at the Astros Bonus Pool

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Eric Huysman

Eric Huysman

My name is pronounced like the Heisman Trophy. I am a contributor at Climbing Tal's Hill, a Fansided site and part of the Sports Illustrated family. Have been covering the Astros since the 2014 offseason. Now, I am the co-host of Talking Stros on SportsTalk 790, an iHeart channel. When I'm not talking Astros, I am a teacher, father, and husband.