Yesterday, facing off against Nick Pivetta and what may well have been a preview of the Padres Opening Day lineup, the Rockies managed a convincing 9-3 victory. Combining 14 hits across ten different batters, the offensive outburst was a team effort. Similarly, on the pitching side, six different pitchers combined to only allow four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Today, the Rockies take on the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium in a duel between both teams Opening Day starters.
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For the Royals, that means Cole Ragans will be on the mound. After a fourth place finish in the AL Cy Young race in 2024, shoulder problems limited Ragans to 61.2 innings last year.
So far this spring Ragans has struggled to keep runs off the board and enters todays contest with an 8.44 ERA. That can largely be attributed to his second start of the spring in which he allowed six runs in fewer than two innings.
Opposing him will be Kyle Freeland in his final tune up before his franchise record fifth Opening Day start. Between his two other spring training starts and his exhibition game against team USA, Freeland has looked sharp (two runs/seven strikeouts) in limited innings (six).
He has yet to exceed a pitch count of 43 this spring, so how high he’s able to push that number in this final outing will inform how long Warren Schaeffer will be able to use him on Opening Day.
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First Pitch: 1:05 pm MDT
TV: None
Radio: ALT 96.5 (Royals)
MLB Gameday: Live Box Score
Lineups:
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