A Sunday afternoon series finale between the Phillies and Rockies will likely conclude this season’s matchup between these two franchises.
After a stunning upset on Friday night, the Phillies were able to bounce back on Saturday evening to even the series at one game a piece.
The Phillies have not lost a series since April 24th, when they dropped a three-game series to the Cincinnati Reds. They will try and keep that streak alive today when they send Ranger Suarez to the mound.
Phillies Starting Lineup
Ranger Danger
Ranger Suarez (9-0, 1.36 ERA) takes the mound for the Phillies. He will be opposed by Cal Quantrill (3-3, 3.59 ERA) who is having a really strong season for the Rockies.
This season has been nothing short of historic for Ranger and the Phillies, as Suarez has arguably been the best starter in professional baseball. Winning with Ranger has been automatic for the club this season, which favors the Fightins in today’s matchup. The Phillies are 10-0 when he takes the mound this season.
He has appeared in two games at Coors Field in Colorado. Once as a reliever, and then a start last season. Across those two games, he has thrown seven innings, allowing three earned runs for a 3.86 earned run average. The Phillies will need another good start from him today, as their starting pitching has excelled once again in this series.
For Cal Quantrill, this will be his third career start against the Phillies and second on the season. He tossed six scoreless innings at Citizen’s Bank Park in his last appearance, allowing just one run and four hits.
In the month of May, Quantrill is 3-1 with a 1.40 earned run average across four starts. He has held opposing hitters to just a .195 batting average in those starts.
Watson’s Watchlist
JT Realmuto
The first player to watch this afternoon will be JT Realmuto. The Phillies’ starting catcher had off last night and is back in the lineup for Sunday’s action.
Realmuto went 2-5 on Friday night in Colorado and has risen his batting average to .288 on the season. His OPS has reached .792, which ranks him sixth amongst MLB catchers.
I would expect Realmuto to have an impact one way or another against the Rockies in their season finale. Centerfield Brenton Doyle had three stolen bases against Garrett Stubbs and Aaron Nola in game two of the series. JT should be able to keep him in check on Sunday.
Johan Rojas
Johan Rojas has been struggling quite a bit over the last couple of weeks for the Phillies. Since his three-hit game in Miami on May 10th, Rojas is just 5 for his last 35. The young outfield’s defense should shine in a large Coors’ outfield, but his bat needs to wake back up.
Dropping a bunt for a hit, grabbing a single and a stolen base, or even an extra-base hit in a hitter’s ballpark could help spark a hot streak for Johan. However, his bat needs to improve if he wants to continue seeing consistent playing time from Rob Thomson.
While I think the Phillies are committed to Rojas in the center, a few more rough games offensively could see him potentially demoted when Trea Turner returns to the team in the coming weeks.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
