Longtime readers of the blog will know that I have a deep, deep love for Colorado Rockies. They are the baseball equivalents of the big butterball Golden Retrievers, they’re not very bright and they’re not very fast and they’re not even very good dogs but you love them so damn much. That’s why I’m a little worried about what might happen to them at the hands of the AL East leading New York Yankees.
Clarke Schmidt will be tasked with starting the series off right, making his second career start at Coors Field. His first time was a successful one, credited with a win back in 2023, pitching six innings with two runs allowed, eight strikeouts and no walks. Everything at Denver altitude is pretty unpredictable, but if Schmidt can repeat that performance the Yankees will be in good hands.
The biggest challenge for pitchers at Coors tends to be that they lose movement on breaking balls, and Schmidt’s bet offerings this season have been his sweeper and to a lesser extent his curveball. Figuring out how to make those pitches work in an environment not necessarily suited to it will be the big test for Clarke tonight.
This start for Colorado was supposed to go to top young gun Chase Dollander, but he just hit the IL. So instead it will be Tanner Gordon, just recalled today from Triple-A Albuquerque, coming up as a periodic spot starter. He’s made one start already this year, going 6.1 innings against the Tigers on May 8. He throws a pretty mediocre fastball, but his best pitch is a changeup that he’ll try to keep Yankee hitters off balance with.
How to watch
Location: Coors Field — Denver, CO
First pitch: 8:40 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES Network, Rockies.TV, KUSA/9News, KTVD Channel 20
Radio broadcast: WFAN (NYY); KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM , KNRV 1150 (COL)
Online stream: MLB.tv, Gotham Sports App
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