On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Rockies series preview

The Cubs have won four of the last six games they have played against the Rockies at Wrigley Field since 2019.

That’s significant because the Rox have generally played poorly on the road.

For more on the Rockies, here’s Joelle Milholm, a writer for our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row:

Entering the season on high hopes after signing Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million deal, the Rockies have since plummeted to earth and into the basement of the NL West. Not only has Bryant suffered with injuries that have made him miss over 100 games through Thursday, Sept. 15, the Rockies starting rotation has lost its way. Germán Márquez, an All-Star in 2021 who had a 3.67 ERA at Coors Field last season, has a 6.78 ERA at home in 2022. Kyle Freeland continues to have mixed results (though he threw very well vs. the White Sox on Wednesday), as have veterans Chad Kuhl and José Ureña. The Rockies pitchers have combined for the worst ERA and BA against in baseball at 5.07 and .272 respectively.

Outside of pitching, the perennial problems remain for the Rockies as they struggle to hit and win on the road. They are 22-47 (a .319 winning percentage) away from Coors and have scored the fewest road runs in MLB at 208. Offensively, C.J. Cron is having another strong season for Colorado and leads the Rockies with 28 homers, but he had 21 at the All-Star break before falling into a slump. The Rockies picked up José Iglesias to fill in after losing Trevor Story to free agency and he leads the team as the only qualified player hitting .300 (but he is currently injured). On the bright side, the Rockies are seeing promising play from power-hitting prospects Michael Toglia, a switch-hitting first baseman and right fielder, and Elehuris Montero, a hard-hitting corner infielder. While there are some exciting players for the future, the Rockies are wrapping up their fourth straight losing season and head into the offseason without a clear plan of how to get back to winning baseball.

Fun fact

The Rockies enter this series leading MLB in runs allowed, with 774. That’s 95 more runs than the Cubs have allowed.

Probable pitching matchups

Friday: Marcus Stroman, RHP (3-7, 3.91 ERA, 1.198 WHIP, 3.77 FIP) vs. German Marquez, RHP (8-10, 5.25 ERA, 1.389 WHIP, 4.86 FIP)

Saturday: Wade Miley, LHP (1-0, 2.89 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 3.22 FIP) vs. Jose Ureña, RHP (3-6, 5.81 ERA, 1.641 WHIP, 4.98 FIP overall; 3-6, 6.08 ERA, 1.650 WHIP, 4.87 FIP in 13 starts with Rockies)

Sunday: Javier Assad, RHP (1-1, 2.53 ERA, 1.406 WHIP, 4.05 FIP) vs. Ryan Feltner, RHP (2-8, 6.12 ERA, 1.453 WHIP, 4.87 FIP)

Times & TV channels

Friday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside Cubs and Rockies market territories)

Saturday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside Cubs and Rockies market territories)

Sunday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Prediction

These pitching matchups look favorable for the Cubs. As noted above, the Rockies have the worst road record in MLB and are 7-20 on the road since the All-Star break.

I will be disappointed if the Cubs don’t win at least two of three here.

Up next

The Cubs travel to Miami for a three-game series against the Marlins which begins Monday evening.