Series Preview: New York Mets @ Colorado Rockies

This will be an entertaining series because through the first month of this season, both the Mets and Rockies have showed they are very different ball clubs. New York can hit, but their success depends on how they pitch. On the other hand, the Rockies are mainly an offensive type club that hopes their pitching is manageable enough to win games. The two meet for the first time in 2012 in Denver for a three-game set at Coors Field, set to start tonight at 8:40 pm.

How they’re performing

The Mets are hoping that they fare better against the Rockies than they did in 2011, where they went 2-5 in seven head-to-head

match-ups. What’s most surprising to me was that Colorado came in and swept the four-game series at Citi, but the Mets countered with winning two out of three in Denver. A common stereotype for the Rockies is that they’re fantastic at home since they’re a great offensive ball club in a hitter friendly Coors Field, but that’s hardly the case. In 2011, Jim Tracy’s squad went 38-43, and is off to an inauspicious start with a 5-4 record in their backyard.

On the other hand, New York has recently been more successful away from Citi Field, compiling a 43-38 record on the road in 2011, and in a small sample size, they are sitting at .500 this season (3-3). Both teams are hanging around the .500 mark, and by looking at their offensive and pitching statistics, you can see why. Colorado is in the top half of the league in team batting average (.251, 13^th), and runs (79, 13^th), but their pitching has struggled. The Rockies have compiled a 4.36 team ERA and 1.39 WHIP, both ranking 21^st in the league.

The Mets are right behind the Rockies in team batting average (.250), but their 63 runs scored ranks 25^th in the league, which is why the team relies so heavily on their pitching staff to put some wins in the books. Thankfully, both the starting staff and the bullpen are doing just that; their team ERA of 3.60 is rather respectable, ranking 14^th in the league, even though their team WHIP isn’t so hot at 1.38 (20^th in MLB).

Probable Pitching match-ups

Now that Mike Pelfrey will be having Tommy John surgery, the starting rotation is will be shaken up a little bit with the promotion of 2008 draftee Chris Schwinden. He has only logged 21 professional innings in his career, but the 25-year-old right hander has struck out 17 batters and walked six. The rest of the match-ups are listed below:

Chris Schwinden (NYM) vs. Drew Pomeranz (COL)

Dillon Gee (NYM) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (COL)

Johan Santana (NYM) vs. Jamie Moyer (COL)

Behind Schwinden in the rotation, Dillon Gee is hoping to erase his poor start in the nightcap of the double header against San Francisco, and Santana looks to continue leading the staff after his masterful 6.2 innings and fanning 11 hitters against Miami. After that performance, the whispers about his health can stop again.

Who’s hot and who’s not

Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been taking advantage of his opportunity to play every day at the Major League level. He’s got 14 hits in his last 10 games played, and his triple slash in The Show is .333/.403/.517. Now that Andres Torres is expected to come back when New York travels to Houston to play the Astros coinciding with Jason Bay going on the 15-day DL, Captain Kirk will continue to stay in the lineup.

It’s obvious that Ike Davis isn’t hot at all for New York right now; he’s logged five hits in his last 10 games, amounting to a .118 average, which is only a little worse than his season average of .132. He does have 2 home runs and 5 RBI during this time, but he has been taking some terrible swings in his latest at-bats. However, all it takes is one swing to get good hitters back on track, and that’s what Terry Collins is hoping for.

Ramon Hernandez is the hottest hitter in the Colorado lineup within the last ten games, with a .278 average through the last week and a half, including 10 hits, 3 home runs, and 7 RBI. On the other hand, Troy Tulowitzki has been reasonably cold, hitting .231 in his last 10 games, with only 1 home run and 4 RBI.

This should be a fun series to watch; let’s see if the struggles at home continue for the Rockies and the Mets continue to play well away from Citi Field. Let’s Go Mets!

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