Chicago Cubs vs Colorado Rockies – Series Preview (September 16-18): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs (61-82) just completed an unlikely three-game sweep of the Mets in New York, even beating Jacob deGrom in the second game of the series. The bullpen finally had a good stretch after being the primary culprit in six consecutive series losses. Now Chicago returns home for three games with the last-place Colorado Rockies.
It has been another lost season for the Rockies (61-82), who have fallen apart in the second half to land 36.5 games out of first in the NL West. Colorado’s pitching has collapsed and they now have the worst ERA in baseball at 5.07. Kyle Freeland is the de facto staff ace with a 4.43 ERA, which isn’t good enough to win with an offense that isn’t scoring big runs.
Amazingly, the Rockies have just the 22nd most home runs in baseball (132) despite playing half their games at Coors Field. C.J. Cron is the offensive leader with an .805 OPS and 28 dingers this season. Old friend Kris Bryant has had an injury-ravaged season and has played just 42 games in 2021. He won’t be available for the Rox this weekend.
As is often the case with Colorado, they are much better at home than on the road. They are a particularly grizzly (like a bear market) 22-47 away from altitude so far this season. The Cubs have a chance to take this series but they have struggled with equally poor opponents recently. Let’s see if there can be a different outcome this time.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Friday, September 16 at 1:20pm CT on MLB Network (out-of-market only) and Marquee Sports Network.
- Saturday, September 17 at 1:20pm CT on MLB Network (out-of-market only) and Marquee Sports Network.
- Sunday, September 18 at 1:20pm CT on Marquee Sports Network.
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 9/16 | Marcus Stroman | 31 | R | 3.91 | 3-7 | 3.77 | 3.13 |
| Germán Márquez | 27 | R | 5.25 | 8-10 | 4.86 | 2.25 | |
| 9/17 | Hayden Wesneski | 24 | R | 3.12 | 1-1 | 4.26 | 5.50 |
| José Ureña | 31 | R | 5.81 | 3-6 | 4.87 | 1.29 | |
| 9/18 | Javier Assad | 25 | R | 2.53 | 1-1 | 4.05 | 1.80 |
| Ryan Feltner | 30 | R | 6.12 | 2-8 | 4.87 | 2.43 |
What to Watch For
- The Cubs announced Friday morning that Wesneski will make his first start Saturday, with Wade Miley being bumped back to Monday.
- Willson Contreras and Nico Hoerner are both trying to come back from injuries and they may play this weekend.
- Adbert Alzolay is finally making his season debut out of the bullpen after spending months on the IL with a shoulder injury.
- P.J. Higgins got on base five times against the Mets as he gets more playing time due to injuries.