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The La Russa Heartbreakometer
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Rubby De La Rosa
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Kyle Kendrick
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| Ender Inciarte - RF | Charlie Blackmon - CF |
| A.J. Pollock - CF | Cristhian Adames - SS |
| Paul Goldschmidt - 1B | Carlos Gonzalez - RF |
| David Peralta - LF | Nolan Arenado - 3B |
| Welington Castillo - C | Ben Paulsen - 1B |
| Jake Lamb - 3B | Matt McBride - LF |
| Phil Gosselin - 2B | Daniel Descalso - 2B |
| Chris Owings - SS | Dustin Garneau - C |
| Rubby De La Rosa - RHP | Kyle Kendrick - RHP |
Having safely negotiated the tricky minefield which is a late-inning lead in single digits at Coors Field, we head in to the night-cap of the double header with the chance of a sweep. Of course, whether that happens will depend on where the Wheel O' De La Rosa stops, and considering how home-run prone he is, I'm not sure that a game in Coors Field is the best chance we'll have of a favorable outcome. August was a bit better for Rubby in that department, as he allowed three long-balls over his 30 innings of work, a sharp improvement over July when it was eight in 29.2 innings. Two of those came in his last start vs. St. Louis, which was also his first loss since the break.
In terms of a line-up, there are a few changes from the opening game, with the main change being an unsurprising one of Castillo taking over behind the dish from Saltalamacchia. Four RBI man Gosselin also gets to take the field for another start, with Owings coming in to shortstop, replacing Nick Ahmed . Aaron Hill, in case you were wondering, is apparently suffering from some minor hand and hamstring issues, and the plan is to stay away from him this series if possible. The arrival of Brandon Drury should probably improve the chances of that; he's on the bench in the second game, Lamb taking over at the hot corner. Peralta replaces Yasmany Tomas in the outfield.
Going up against Kendrick certainly gives us a chance to sweep the double-header, since he has been one of the worst pitchers in the majors this year. Of the 116 to have thrown a hundred or more innings, Kendrick is ranked 116th, and there are only a couple of other with ERAs above 5.70. Some of that, obviously, is Coors, but even adjusting and use ERA+, he only moves up to 112th, and his FIP of 6.15 is also worst in the majors and a full three-quarters of a run worse than the 115th-ranked pitcher, Jeremy Guthrie of the Royals. In other words, this is certainly a pitcher we can beat, should beat and have to beat. Or else, it's likely gonna be a long last month!