After a wild 10-9 game on Friday night, the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks are back at in the desert on Saturday night. The Rockies lost on Friday but are -130 favorites to win on Saturday.
Arizona has been one of the surprise teams in baseball early in the season. The D’Backs lost some big pieces over the winter, but at 19-13, they currently have the third-most wins in the National League. Following Friday’s win, they’ve won eight of their last 10 games and 13 of their last 17 to stay just a game back of the Dodgers in the NL West.
On the other hand, Colorado has been a disappointment early in 2019 after being a Wild Card team the last two seasons. It’s been two steps forward and two steps back all season for the Rockies, who are 15-18 overall and 5.5 games off the pace in the NL West, just half a game ahead of the Giants for last place.
Bad Sequel
Kyle Freeland will start Saturday for Colorado. The young lefty had a breakout campaign in 2018, going 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA. But he’s failed to carry that success into 2019, going 2-4 with a 4.81 ERA over his first six starts. To be fair, he’s tossed a couple of gems, but he’s also been roughed up. Last time out, he allowed five runs over six innings after tossing six shutout innings in his previous start, so there’s no semblance of consistency from him.
On the bright side, Freeland has been consistent against most of Arizona’s hitters in his career. However, the Diamondbacks have been much better than expected early in the season. First baseman Christian Walker has filled Paul Goldschmidt’s shoes perfectly and is one of three Arizona regulars hitting over .300. Arizona is also starting to get more productivity out of Wilmer Flores, a notorious lefty killer, and Ketel Marte, who has six extra-base hits in his last five games.
Bob and Weave
Arizona will send Luke Weaver to the mound on Saturday night. Weaver’s first season with the Diamondbacks is going well despite a couple of shaky starts early in the season. He was hit around a little by the Cubs last time out, failing to get out of the 5th inning. But Weaver allowed two runs or less in three straight starts prior to that, so he’s starting to settle in this year.
Alas, Weaver has not fared well in his limited experience against Colorado’s hitters. For instance, Nolan Arenado is 4 for 5 with a home run in his career against Weaver. Arenado is also heating up, hitting four home runs in his last seven games. Trevor Story is also providing plenty of power for the Rockies, hitting eight home runs in 2019. Charlie Blackmon and Daniel Murphy are also starting to crank things up, giving the Rockies a balanced lineup against Weaver.
Tossup
This matchup is almost too close to call. Friday’s game showed that both teams can score runs, so another slugfest can’t be ruled out. Surprisingly, the Diamondbacks have been the more potent offensive team this year. Bet on Arizona winning as underdogs on Saturday night.
