Dodgers: 2019 NL West Outlook: Colorado Rockies

While the Rockies found success against the league in general at the plate, most of the “Dodger Killers” on their roster can be found in the starting rotation, as Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story, both 5+ WAR players in 2018, were less valuable against the Dodgers than they were against the rest of the league. The young starters of the Rockies were able to pitch well against one of the best lineups in baseball for the most part.

Here are the top-3 Dodger Killers from the 2018 Rockies’ roster.

Tyler Anderson

Anderson was not an ace by any means last season for Colorado. His 4.55 ERA and 8.39 K/9 leave plenty to be desired. But Anderson pitched plenty, hurling 176 innings last season in 32 starts, and this allowed him to be worth 2.0 WAR on the season.

A good chunk of this value came against the Dodgers.

Anderson held the Dodgers to a .228 AVG and gave up just 12 runs in 108 at-bats against. He struck out 24 while walking just 9.

As a big lefty, the 6’4 starter may have had an unfair advantage against the Dodgers of 2018, who had a tough time hitting left-handers. But as the roster stands today, the lineup will have a tough time against lefties once again, and Anderson will look to be there to capitalize again for the Rockies next season.

Kyle Freeland

The team leader in innings in 2018, Freeland finished with the 9th-most innings of any starter last season with 202.1 innings and was one of just 13 starting pitchers to reach the 200+ innings plateau in 2018. Freeland pitched to a 2.85 ERA and minuscule 0.76 HR/9 last season, both marks that led the team. Freeland, a Colorado-native, knows how to pitch in Colorado, and has been more successful than any starter in recent memory, maybe since All-Star Ubaldo Jimenez.

Besides knowing how to pitch in Colorado, Freeland also knew how to pitch against the Dodgers last season. Freeland was able to best Buehler in a battle for first place in early September, though Buehler got the last laugh, beating the Rockies with ease in game 163.

Overall against Los Angeles, Freeland pitched lights out, allowing just seven extra-base hits in 95 ABs and a .221 batting-average-against to along with a 26/12 K/BB ratio. Another tall lefty, the 6’3 Freeland allowed just 9 runs in his outings against the Dodgers and should be able to improve upon those numbers next season as long as the Dodgers continue to struggle against lefties.

German Marquez

By the numbers, Marquez was the best starter, and third best overall player, on the Rockies last season. His 4.5 WAR led all pitchers on the team, and his 10.56 K/9 was the best strikeouts per nine innings ratio amongst starters on the team. Marquez struck out so many hitters that he was able to overcome some of his shortcomings in terms of allowing home runs and walks.

This proved to be especially true against the Dodgers last season.

Marquez held the Dodgers to a .170 batting average against, lower than the previous two pitchers on this list by more than .50 points of batting average. While he did allow six home runs to the boys in blue in 94 ABs, he still allowed just 10 runs against them, just one more than Freeland in a similar number of ABs against LA.

While the Dodgers had his number in game 163, in which he threw just 4.2 innings and allowed two home runs, he did have nine strikeouts in this outing. If he is able to rein in some of his home run problems, which will be tough to do in Coors field, he could become the worst nightmare of Dodger hitters up and down the lineup, no matter where the game is played.