The August 30th Rockies at Rangers matchup may not have a ton of playoff implications, but it’s very interesting from a betting perspective. Colorado is a -145 favorite on Monday night, but are also one of the three worst road teams in baseball with a 17-48 record away from Coors Field.
Texas is a +125 underdog in this spot, which could have some value since the last place Rangers are still a decent 29-36 in Arlington this season. The Rangers are a bit thin with seven players landing on the COVID list, and as a result they’ve lost 4 of their last 5. Texas did beat Zack Greinke and Houston 13-2 on Sunday as +193 underdogs though, so don’t count this team out.
Rockies Had a Good Weekend
We’ve reached the point where Colorado can no longer be penciled in as an instant loss on the road after they took 2 of 3 in Chavez Ravine from the Dodgers over the weekend. That includes a 4-2 win on Friday at +228 and 5-0 Sunday at +215 so backing the Rockies the past couple days has been very profitable.
C.J. Cron continues his red hot run as Colorado has 3 road wins in their last four games. Cron has 3 HR in the last five games, picking up some of the slack with Charlie Blackmon on a 2 for 12 stretch and Trevor Story being 2 for his last 15. Colorado has no familiarity with A.J. Alexy – fact no team does as the Texas pitcher makes his MLB debut in the August 30th Rockies at Rangers contest.
The Rangers have an unknown in a rookie at pitcher on Monday, but that’s almost better than the known that the Rockies have in German Marquez (11-9, 3.98 ERA). In two of his last three outings Marquez has allowed 5 ER to the Cubs and 7 ER to the Giants – and both of those games were on the road. Marquez gave up 3 ER while pitching into the 7th in his last home start against San Diego and the right hander now has a 5.31 ERA on the road compared to 3.13 at Coors.
Rangers a Tough Fade
Even though they’re young – or perhaps because they are young – the Rangers have some value at +125 on Monday. Because of COVID protocols and other injuries, Texas is hopping into the DeLorean and seeing what they have in the future by bring some young and hungry players to the majors.
At this point in the season potential AL ROY Adolis Garcia seems like a grizzled old veteran compared to the rest of the Rangers callups. Garcia has a HR in two straight games and has 7 hits and 6 RBI in his last 13 AB. Fellow rookie Andy Ibanez has a multi hit game in 7 of his last 8, but is questionable Monday with a hamstring injury. Nick Solak has 11 hits in the last 7 games getting an opportunity with Brock Holt and Charlie Culberson on the COVID list.
A.J. Alexy makes his MLB debut on Monday, having a 1.66 ERA between Double A and Triple A this season. Alexy was injury plagued in 2019 and stayed at the alternate site in 2020, making Monday an audition of sorts. Alexy will likely throw 70 pitches on Monday, and then head back to the minors as Rangers pitchers return from the COVID list. Basically, the 23-year-old is pitching for his career here.
August 30th Rockies at Rangers Pick
The Rockies have shown improvement on the road as of late, but are a tough team to ride with Marquez on the mound in an away start (ironically). The Rangers have some young guns who are finding ways to get on base lately, and are the play in this one if they can get even a mediocre 4+ innings from Alexy.
Rangers 6 – Rockies 4
Free Pick: Rangers +125
