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Colorado Rockies series preview: Coming home to face Atlanta
By Noah Yingling
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Chad Bettis /
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 14: Jim Johnson #53 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at SunTrust Park on July 14, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The Braves bullpen
For a team that is 12 games under .500, 12 games back of the second wildcard, and 17 1/2 back in the National League East, the Braves have actually had a decent bullpen. Their 4.34 is only 20th in baseball but it is better than the Rockies. They had an atrocious month of July as they had a 6.34 bullpen ERA in July and a 4.66 ERA in April but in May, June, and August, they have done very well. In May and June, their bullpen ERA was 3.86 and 3.69, respectively, and in August, their ERA has been even better as it is 2.06 for the month and batters are only hitting .183 against them.
They currently have six relievers with at least 29 1/3 innings pitched and an ERA of 3.86 or below so they have been pretty effective. Their closer, Jim Johnson, has an ERA of 3.86 but he has blown eight saves this season so that is something that the Rockies could take advantage of in a close game late.
Also, of note, two former Rockies now call the Atlanta bullpen home: Jason Motte and Rex Brothers (you probably were hoping to not hear his name for a while). Motte has done well as he has an ERA of 3.68 in 29 1/3 innings but Brothers has not. He has pitched in 13 1/3 innings and he has an ERA of 6.08.
Arenado's injury
It will also be interesting to see how long Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado will be out of commission due to his hand injury. At least for Monday's game, I would suspect that either Pat Valaika or Ryan McMahon will get the start at third base.
Next: Arenado spoke to the media after Sunday's game about his injury
The Rockies did avoid a catastrophe, though, as Arenado does not have any broken bones (you can see the video in this article that our own Kevin Henry published yesterday). We will have to see, though, if the injury causes Arenado any production issues or lingering problems.