What to make of the Rockies?

The San Francisco Giants are facing the Colorado Rockies for the final time in 2021, and let me tell you, the Rockies are a funky butt team. They have lost 27 more games than they have won when playing on the road. They have won 17 more games than they have lost when playing at home.

They’re at home for this series.

The Rockies, when playing at Coors Field, have a higher winning percentage than any baseball team not named the Giants, Dodgers, or Rays.

There are two ways to look at this. Either the Rockies have figured out their demon field so well that they are truly an elite baseball team when they get to play there, or they’re a below-average team who randomly has hilarious home-road splits because variance sometimes leads to that. I’m sure the Giants have some funny nonsensical splits as well; like, for instance, San Francisco has been the best team in baseball this year on days that end in “Y,” but haven’t won a single game this season on the other days.

All of this is to say: the Giants are either playing a bad team or a great team for the next three days, and no one really knows which it is.

Series details

Who: San Francisco Giants vs. Colorado Rockies
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
When: Friday (5:10 p.m. PT), Saturday (5:10 p.m. PT), and Sunday (12:10 p.m. PT)
National broadcasts: None

Where they stand

San Francisco Giants

Record: 99-64, 1st in the NL West
Run differential: +183, 2nd in the NL
Postseason standing: 1st seed
Momentum: 1-game losing streak, 6-4 in their last 10 games

Colorado Rockies

Record: 71-81, 4th in the NL West
Run differential: -41, 10th in the NL
Postseason standing: Eliminated
Momentum: 1-game losing streak, 6-4 in their last 10 games

Season series: Giants lead 12-4

Three Giants to watch

Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images

Brandon Belt: With Darin Ruf on the Injured List it seems that Belt is probably going to be an every day player from here on out. He would have been in this series regardless, as the Rockies are using three-straight right-handed starting pitchers. Belt has been swinging an exceptional bat of late, and is 9-20 with 2 home runs, 1 double, and 8 RBI at Coors Field this year.

Evan Longoria: Just a gut feeling here that Evan Longoria is going to have a really great series, and I want to put it out there so I look smart on Sunday.

Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood: With Kevin Gausman and Logan Webb suddenly looking mortal, the Giants need the other members of their rotation to step up. DeSclafani and Wood are both more than capable, and each has had far more good than bad this year. Playing at Coors is not easy on a pitching staff, and the Giants bullpen is a little taxed right now. If Disco and Wood can provide some solid innings, it could go a long way towards winning the series.

Three Rockies to watch

Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images

Peter Lambert: The Rockies are eliminated from the postseason, so you know what that means: prospect time. And so they turn to righty Peter Lambert for the opener. It will be Lambert’s first game of the season (he’s been on the Injured List), and his first since 2019, his debut MLB season. Still just 24, the former second-round pick is one of Colorado’s top prospects. But his 2019 season was a disaster, as he had a 7.25 ERA, 5.97 FIP, and just 57 strikeouts to 36 walks in 89.1 innings.

C.J. Cron: According to OPS+, the Rockies have just three healthy players who are having above-average offensive seasons. Two of those players — Trevor Story and Brendan Rodgers — are hitting barely above league average. The third is Cron, who is slashing .279/.373/.532, with a team-best 27 home runs.

Jon Gray: Gray is having a fine enough season, with a 4.17 ERA and 3.95 FIP, but he’s struggled in an area the Giants love to exploit: walks. Gray has issued 58 free passes in 140.1 innings, and at Coors Field, walks are about as valuable as Bitcoin.

Who are the Dodgers playing?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing a three-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.