Spencer Strider Should Shutdown Rockies

Rockies vs. Braves, 7:20 ET

A tough August puts us back just a little bit, I essentially went .500 on the month, which with juice, is not good enough. I've said post deadline is tough for whatever reason. Now we have the September call-ups which adds a new wrinkle to the capping experience. I'm here for it, I'm ready, and I think we are going to have a great September.

Some Rockies pitchers actually pitch better on the road than they do at home. I know, a bit odd considering that some little leaguers could probably get one out at Coors Field, but that is the case with Rockies starter Chad Kuhl. So far on the season, Kuhl has a 6.02 road ERA. He's allowed 39 earned runs, and 11 home runs on the road. One big issue has been the walks he allows. For whatever reason, Kuhl has struggled with control on the road. In road starts, he has 32 walks. At home, he has just 15. July and August have been tough on Kuhl as well. In the seven starts in those two months, he has gone 30.2 innings and allowed 32 earned runs. Back in June when he was pitching well, he was able to go six strong innings against the Braves and allow no earned runs. The Braves are playing better now though than they were at the beginning of June.

For the Braves, Spencer Strider has been outstanding on the year. He comes into the game with a 2.87 ERA and already has 158 strikeouts on the year. 158 strikeouts in just 106.2 innings, good for 12th in the year. He doesn't even qualify as an ERA leader because he didn't start starting games until June. He certainly has made the most of it though. In August, he has gone 26.1 innings and allowed just eight earned runs over five starts. He has one start against the Rockies, he allowed just one earned run over four innings as he was still being stretched out to get into a permanent starting role.

There aren't too many reasonable options in this game, but I think we see Strider go here and shut the door on the Rockies. I don't see the Braves giving up more than two runs in the game. I'm taking the Rockies team total under 2.5 at -120. Risky, for sure, but I think we should be okay here. If you prefer, you can play the Braves -3 at +110. The final score could easily be 5-2 or 6-1.

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