The San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies meet in the Mile High City for Game 1 of a 3-game set at Coors Field! It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Padres-Rockies prediction and pick.
The Padres are soaring right now. After sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates for the second time in less than two weeks, the Friars are now tied atop the NL Wild Card standings alongside the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dbacks are hotter than the desert they play in and now the Los Angeles Dodgers' NL West lead is thinning with just a 2-game lead over both. The Padres are 19-4 since the start of the second half, the best in baseball.
The Rockies have taken another turn for the worse. After looking very good early in games against the Diamondbacks, they allowed AZ to come back and walk off against them twice in the series. Colorado is just 44-78 on the year and will finish the season with a bottom-5 record. You would think that they would have traded away their big-league talent for young prospects, but no, they decided to keep their players with little to no real expectations. The Rockies are capable of staying in games with their offense, however, their pitching is not great. Expect a high-scoring series in Denver.
Padres-Rockies Projected Starters
Matt Waldron vs. Cal Quantrill
Matt Waldron (7-9) with a 4.00 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 121 K's in 132.2 innings on the season.
Last Start: His last start was not great, allowing five hits, five earned runs, walked two, and struck out five in the extra-innings win over the Miami Marlins.
2024 Road Splits: (4-4) with a 3.55 ERA, 62 K's, and only 24 walks on the road where he pitches much better.
Cal Quantrill (7-8) with a 4.56 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 92 K's in 122.1 innings.
Last Start: 4.1 innings, five hits, three earned runs, three walks, and two K's in the 10-2 loss to the Padres.
2024 Home Splits: (3-3) with a 3.95 ERA, 40 K's, and just 24 walks allowed. He somehow pitches better at Coors Field than on the road.
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Padres-Rockies Odds
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (-118)
Moneyline: -172
Colorado Rockies: +1.5 (-102)
Moneyline: +146
Over: 11.5 (+100)
Under: 11.5 (-122)
How to Watch Padres vs. Rockies
Time: 8:40 ET/5:40 PT
TV: MLB.TV, Rocky Mountain Sports
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Padres Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Padres offense is leading the charge. They have scored 5+ runs in 10 of 12 games this month and are coming off a game where they scored eight runs. Now, they play in the most hitter-friendly park in the league with an opportunity to continue to do damage.
As a team, the Padres continue to lead the league in batting average at .265. Furthermore, SD also leads in hits with 1,105. They have led pretty much all season in both those categories, especially hits as the Padres did start the season earlier than the rest when they faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea. Seven hitters have 10+ homers while seven starting players have a batting average of .268 or higher.
Donovan Solano leads with a .308 average but does not have enough ABs on the campaign to qualify. Luis Arraez is second with a .307 average and Jurickson Profar is right behind him with a .295 average. Profar has 19 homers and Manny Machado has 18. The Padres aren't really known for hitting home runs as they are 13th in the majors, however, they have shown in the past they can smash at Coors Field.
Why The Rockies Will Cover The Spread/Win
Ezequiel Tovar continues to show why he is a rising star in this game. He isn't getting noticed because the Rockies are not winning games, however, his numbers are up there with some of the best in the game. He is 36th in the majors with a .273 average, 39th with 19 homers, tied for 68th with 55 RBIs, and is 66th with an OPS of .757. Furthermore, he has 10 hits including a homer against the Padres this season. If he can work on the strikeouts and put the ball in play a bit more, then he will break out as a hitter.
Moving to the outfield, Brenton Doyle is also putting up a really good campaign. He has 20 homers with 60 RBIs which both lead the team. The speedster also has 23 stolen bases and has also played well against SD this year. He has 11 hits including two homers and two doubles. even though those two are playing well, it will take a group effort to slow down the Padres.
Cal Quantrill is facing his former team for the second consecutive game. The Padres had his number last game so he will need to adjust and find a new game plan to attack the hitters tonight.
Final Padres-Rockies Prediction & Pick
Matt Waldron is coming off a rough start and it may not get much better in this one. However, the Rockies can't be trusted against a hot ballclub. I like the Padres to win and the Over in run total.
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Final Padres-Rockies Prediction & Pick: Padres ML (-174), Over 11.5 (+100)