MLB Lines – Cardinals vs Rockies
Even when your organization receives horrible news like the Cardinals (42-35) have lately, a series against the Colorado Rockies (34-42) is welcome reprieve.
Date/Time: Tuesday, June 24 2014, 8:40 pm EST
Venue: Coors Field, Denver CO
St. Louis -115, Colorado -105
Over/Under: 10.5
Pitching Match-up: Shelby Miller (7-6, 3.56 ERA) vs. Jorge de la Rosa (6-6, 4.75 ERA)
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St. Louis found out this week that Jaime Garcia and Michael Wacha – two keys in the starting rotation – are going on the disabled list with shoulder issues. Garcia has been prone to injury, so that’s not the biggest surprise in the world, but in the last season combined going back to last year, the 23-year old Wacha has been one of the game’s elite young starters.
It’s a real blow for a team that has aspirations of winning the NL Central division.
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There have already been whispers about St. Lou maybe trading for a big-name starter like David Price from Tampa, but all the club can do right now is put its head down and try to plug the holes. The Cardinals have been very lucky to have some of the best starting pitching depth in the majors.
The Garcia/Wacha situation continues a worrying trend that too many of pitching’s best arms – even very young players – are going down with shoulder and elbow trouble. What is it they are doing differently now that seems to be shredding these player’s tendons?
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Young Shelby Miller takes the bump for the Cards on Tuesday night, who has been solid if unspectacular in 2014. Miller will get some help from an offense that is adept at getting on base.
Last season, St. Louis would get on base and then enjoyed one of the best team batting averages with runners in scoring position (RISP) in the game. When ducks were on the pond, they’d almost always come home to roost. It hasn’t been so easy this season, but the club is still doing enough to be seven games over .500.
The Rockies are a team of two stories so far this season. They started out brilliantly, powered by an unmatched offense in the bigs. Troy Tulowitzki, Corey Dickerson, Charlie Blackmon and others were hitting the cover off the baseball with regularity.
On May 10, the Rockies were 23-16 after demolishing the Cincinnati Reds 11-2. Since that date, the club has gone 11-26.
The pitching, which many hoped was good enough that when factored in with Colorado’s scary offense would be enough for contention, is now nowhere to be seen.
Shortstop Tulowitzki is still having a great season, but other prominent hitters have cooled off and it doesn’t help that 1B/OF Michael Cuddyer, last year’s NL batting champ, has spent most of the year out with injury.
The Rockies can still smash in runs with anybody, but as this franchise has proved time and again, without any semblance of Major League-caliber pitching, you are sunk in this league.
To be fair, Colorado’s home confines of Coors Field is a hitter’s playground, but there’s only so much of that you can blame on the overall pitching malaise. Every team has to come deal with those conditions, and Colorado is only a single game over .500 at home.
So although Miller is probably not relishing his chance to go face Tulo et. al. in the thin air of Denver, you still have to like the Cardinals’ chances to take another game off the floundering Rockies.
St. Louis 8, Colorado 6
Take the OVER
