Cardinals @ Rockies u10.5
Pitchers faced each other 3 weeks ago. Cards won 3-2.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN201808020.shtml
I think it’s a run too high. Thoughts?
I think I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one boss. Don’t get me wrong this be a tough over to play and honestly I doubt I’ve bet a over on a Mikolas start this season! I’ll prob wait on ump and hope I get a good one for my purposes to give me the courage! Lol. Over ump or even fairly neutral guy and there some reasons I think we see a much different game than the meeting in stl. (If we draw a serious under ump I’d prob just have to pass).
Let’s start w Mikolas who as a cards fan of course I love, guy was by far the biggest/best free agent signing this offseason (not named Jd Martinez anyway) as he been nothing short of incredible. I don’t buy him as a big regression candidate cause while I respect and use the advanced metrics I think they incredibly flawed in there inability to measure incredibly important things, like you know the ability to actually pitch!! Mikolas clearly went to Japan and worked on his craft, not only coming back w good velo but also a almost Maddox like pinpoint control of all his pitches!
Last time out vs rox at home was pretty typical Mikolas vs a tough rox lineup he posted, 7 inn 7 hits, 2walks, 2 runs (1 earned), the guy a machine collecting 18 QS in his 25 chances! Maybe even more impressive is even when it hasn’t been a qs, only has 5 starts that didn’t last 6+ Inn, not 1 start this season allowing more than 4 runs!! The guy has been one of most surprising out of nowhere pickups in a long time! I know what you thinking, none of this doing anything but supporting your under lean, lol. Could be I just feel obligated to say good things bout Mikolas!
All that said I think there some cause for concern in this one. He has only pitched at coors once and it was back before his move to japan, it was a ugly 1 inning where he got rocked for 4 runs. Obviously I’m not focusing on that one inning that was a lifetime ago but I think it needs to be mentioned and here is why. Mikolas has a better fastball than ppl think pumping it in consistently right around 95 but his real success stems from his ability to throw and locate 4 good pitches in any count, he throws the fb, sinker, curve, and slider all very close to 25% of the time. Normally this a good thing as we see by the marvelous numbers, however we all know coors atmosphere can play havoc with guys off speed/breaking pitches causing them to saucer and hang up more than getting that sharp bite/movement the pitcher is used to getting,
Those 9 baserunners rox stranded vs Mikolas in stl last week will be much more likely to make it all way around the bases in this spot imo. I really think he between a rox and a hard place (clever huh? lol), either throw those breaking pitchers and risk them not breaking and getting tagged or simply try to control this game w pinpoint control with his heater/sinker, while I think he could do that to a extent I expect he has to really work to make it into the 5th and I just think we gonna see one of his worst outings here where he will have done well to go 5-6 and hold rox to 4 runs. I actually think it could be worse just have to give him benefit of doubt to grind his way thru in a game I think the offense will have his back.
(Side note with cards pitching, while I think the young studs we brought up have turned this pen into one of the better units in the league I think we should remember this will be most these kids 1st exposure to the Rocky Mountain elevation and thin air so good chance at least one of them struggle imo)
On to the reason I don’t want to play rox and am far more interested in this total. Senzatela might have the better approach at coors leaning very heavily on his fastball but that means cards getting second crack at a guy that throws right around 70% heaters. I look at this kids pitch selection, his very hard hit rate against and I think he been living a bit of a charmed life with that insanely low .52 hr per 9 as he only allowing 5.6% of fly balls to leave the yard despite a 37% hard hit percentage which a good 8 points up from last season when he allowed 1.2 hr per 9 on a 15.7% hr/fb rate. So we get a kid who is allowing way less hr’s Despite more fly balls and more of those balls hit hard. Enter the cards offense who been hitting bombs for the last 3 nights at Chavez ravine which we all know a tough place to make ball fly at night! I’d be incredibly surprised If senzatela didn’t have similar struggles as Mikolas . Feel like both pitchers gonna be done after 5 and game be 4-4 at that point.
Ozuna going on the dl possibly hurts the over in the sense that cards didn’t do this wed but certainly have the capability to put one hell of a athletic outfield to cover ground at spacious coors. Obviously bader be in center, I would think O’Neal goes to left in this one which despite the limited mlb abs he actually provides a better sluggin bat than Ozuna who hasn’t hit with any kind of consistent power, assuming they leave Martinez in right for the bat, and we should see the return of big country Matt Adams playing 1st and hitting in that cleanup spot (that what I think should happen and then move carp bacn
k over to 3rd, less defense but significantly more infield power!) This lineup is gonna have the ability to sit back on that senzatela fastball and send it for a ride imo.
Maybe paulsy can give us a update on rox pen? Last I saw them in stl they had some holes outside their main guys, those guys got the day off thu but they did pitch tues and wed against pads so one has to assume while they avalable they would prefer not having to use them all in game 1. Oberg and especially Ottavina numbers impossible to deny, but that 3rd guy I’m speaking of for rox is Oh, make no mistake oh has looked good but I know one thing about him that hasn’t changed, lefties crush him w a ops over .900. Cards don’t have a lot of lefties so as much as I’d like to see Adams start they could save him on bench for when oh comes into a tight spot!!