Cincinnati Reds vs Colorado Rockies September 2 Preview And Analysis

The Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds are both 20 or more games below .500 this season and are out of the playoff race in early September. Both teams would consider finishing outside of last place in their respective divisions a win at this point in time, and these bottom-feeding teams will start a three-game series against one another on Friday in Cincinnati.

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies come into this game simply glad that they are no longer playing the best teams in the National League East anymore. 

The last two series for the Rockies were against the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, where the Rockies were overmatched. Colorado lost two out of three against the Braves and will hope to have more success against a Reds team that will give them a much more evenly matched series.

Kyle Freeland is set to take the mound for the Rockies in this contest, as he aims to start the final month of the season on a high note. Freeland is 7-9 this season, with a 4.88 ERA and 17 home runs allowed in his 142 innings of work. While pitching at Coors Field is not an enviable task, Freeland has gone 3-5 on the road and has not been much better away from the thin air in Colorado.

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have been struggling coming into this series as well, losing three of their last four contests. They dropped two of three to the St. Louis Cardinals in their most recent series, including a 13-4 loss to the NL Central leaders in the first game of that three-game set. The Reds are 2.5 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the standings as they look to avoid last place in the Central.

Luis Cessa gets the start for the Reds going into this contest, as he looks to get his ERA under five after this start. Cessa is 3-2 this season for Cincinnati, but has a 5.36 ERA in 43.2 innings of work on the year. 

While his win-loss record has been better than that of his counterpart on the mound coming into this game, the numbers for Cessa have been worse than those of Freeland in most other areas.

Keys To The Game

The number one key to this game is going to be the starting pitching matchup, as the stronger start will give the team that receives it a huge advantage. Neither of these pitchers have been anything close to convincing this season, with both pitchers boasting ERAs up around five. However, these teams are playing some of the worst competition available to them in Major League Baseball right now, and we could see some improvement from one or both starters as a result.

Injuries will also play a role in this game, as both teams are missing key pieces ahead of this contest. Kris Bryant is on the 10-Day IL for the Rockies, while Mike Moustakas and Albert Almora Jr. are out for the Reds.

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