Cubs vs. Rockies: Series Preview

June 25th, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; 8:05 PM ET;
Jason Marquis, 5-4, 3.38 ERA, vs. Jeff Francis, 7-5, 3.44 ERA

Today there are no new trade rumours, no injuries, nothing new and stirring for the Cubs. That is why I am doing a full preview of the Cubs series with the Colorado Rockies. It should be a good series. Game 1 it's Marquis vs. Francis. Game 2 it's hot Rodrigo Lopez vs. cold, cold Ted Lilly, and game 3 is Jason Hirsch vs. the man with a plan, Big Z, Carlos Zambrano.

Pitchers Preview:

Game 1: June is for sure Jeff Francis' month. In 4 starts this month, he has given up 5 total runs, and gone 26 innings. That is around 6.5 innings per appearance, which isn't possible, but that's the math. Also, that's not to mention that his 2 most previous starts were against the Yankees and Red Sox, where he went 12 innings total yielding 1 run. Ouch. And that said, Marquis hasn't won since May 9th, which is 8 starts and 47 days. His ERA in that time is 7.36, compared to a previous 1.70. His ERA in June is 5.19. Advantage Rockies.

Game 2: Lopez in june is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA. That is slightly worse than his rest of the year 2-0, 2.93 ERA. Also, he has never faced the Cubs in his career yet. Lilly gave up 5 earned in 7 innings striking out 10 in his last outing against the Rangers, a 6-5 loss, where he had a no decision. His ERA has gotten considerably worse since the beginning of the season, where his ERA was closer to 2.75. In his only other appearance vs. the Rockies, he lost, yielding 6 runs, 5 earned, in 1.2 innings pitched. Advantage Rockies.

Game 3: Jason Hirsch, 3-6, 5.06 ERA vs. Carlos Zambrano, 8-6, 4.27 ERA. Hirsch has never faced the Cubs into his sophomore year. Last year he was an Astro, going to Colorado for Jason Jennings. He was one of the Astros top prospects. This year, with, so far, a full season under his belt, he's been far to streaky for the likes of the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies, who just swept the Yankees, would've been so lucky if Hirsch pitched. Zambrano is hot. Zambrano is very hot. In his 7 starts with Barrett calling, he had a 5+ ERA. In 9 starts otherwise, his ERA is 1.24. Good Stuff. He also is 4-2 in those 9 starts with other catchers, and now that Barrett is gone we may jut see that 1.24 ERA more often. Advantage Cubs.

Pitching-wise, it looks to me as if the Rockies have the advantage. If pitching was all that counted and numbers meant everything, I'd say the Rockies win this series 2-1. To prove myself wrong, however, I'm going to compare the hitters by position.

Kings of Swing:

Matt Holliday vs. Alfonso Soriano: Holliday is young, he has a consistent .300+ average, and he is a legitimate homerun threat. This year? .355 average, 13 shots. Soriano is over 30, his average is consistent, however, under .300 career, and he is more of a power threat than Holliday. This year? above .300 average, 15 homers, and 3 homers in 3 days. Advantage Rockies.

Willy Tavares vs. Felix Pie: Tavares, also in the trade for Jennings, is having a career year for himself, .311 average, even though his career average is .289. Not a power threat, 6 career homeruns. Pie is young, his average is getting better by the minute, his arm in CF is completely indispensible, and he also is not a major power threat. Advantage Cubs.

Brad Hawpe vs. Cliff Floyd: Hawpe is hitting .291 who has 51 RBI so far, and who's career best HR total is 22. Floyd is a former 30+ HR hitter, who is aging, injury prone, and having a fantastic year for the Cubs. Advantage Cubs.

Garrett Atkins vs. Aramis Ramirez: Atkins has a .243 average, not a power threat, 51 HRs career, 8 this year, and is known best defensively. Aramis' average just dipped to the .290s, but he is hitting many homeruns, good power hitter, can flash the leather when the heat is on and it boils down to defense. Advantage Cubs.

Troy Tulowitzki vs. Ryan Theriot/Cesar Izturis: Troy this year is .274 hitter as a starter, and .265 hitter career. Theriot's average is about the same ths year, neither of them power hitters, and Izturis' average is rising, he is a streaky hitter, no power, and that is the SS dillema. Advantage Rockies.

Kazuo Matsui vs. Mark DeRosa: Matsui is having a breakout year after being horrific as a Met. I think it may just be luck, but he is so hot right now. DeRosa is hitting in the .250-.260 range all year so far after hitting .296 last year. Currently; Advantage Rockies.

Todd Helton vs. Derrek Lee: Both are fascinating to watch, it's amazing to see the crank homeruns like they do, but the average is the difference. Lee is a career .278 hitter, Helton a .300+ hitter. Advantage Rockies.

Yorvit Torrealba vs. Rob Bowen: This year .234 average, career .247. Phenominal defense. Rob Bowen is hitting .253 this year. Unfortunately, .225 career. Ahh! @$#%! Advantage Rockies.

Well, unfortunately, unless Marquis and Lilly step it up, and Big Z stays hot, it looks like a series win or even sweep for the Colorado Rockies. That's just the numbers, though. Maybe Helton will go 1-15 on the series. Maybe Derrek Lee will go 7-18 with 3 homers. I sure hope so. Go Cubs!!

Thanks,

Ryan