My Team - Nationals at Colorado

Proposed starters -

Tuesday: Haren versus Chacin
Wednesday: Gonzalez (?) versus De La Rosa
Thursday: Zimmerman (?) versus Francis

(Starters subject to change)

The Rockies are two games out of first in the NL West, tied with the defending champion Giants. They have a formidable line-up. Everyone cites home-road splits when it comes to the Rockies, and there is some weight to that consideration. The spacious outfield contributes to many games where the merry-go-round gets started. Guys are running the bases to near exhaustion.

With Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado has a one-two offensive punch to rival any other in the National League. Both players have been healthy so far, and productive. Dexter Fowler seems to finally putting together consistent offense to go with his plus range in CF. Rookie Nolan Arenado may be the answer at 3B. He's slugging OK, but could stand to draw more walks.

Fielding doesn't seem to be a huge problem for the Rockies. Three guys (C Wilin Rosario, 2B Josh Rutledge and 3B Jonathan Herrera) are tied for team lead with 4 errors each. Most of there guys don't have huge range, but they catch what they get to.

On the mound, Colorado is quietly doing better than usual. The team ERA of 4.02 is better than their usual. The team WHIP of 1.34 is a bit much, but again better than in previous years. Chacin had a good April and first half of May, but he gave up 8 ER in a 16 May home start against the Giants. He's struggled since.

De La Rosa leads the team in wins (7), ERA (3.38) and strikeouts (48). He's gotten wins against Washington, but he has a high ERA (4.80) and WHIP (1.53) in five career starts against the Nationals  Francis is the classic soft-tossing lefty the Rockies keep sending out to start. I guess he's a pleasant guy, and the team seems to love him. But, if he doesn't have pinpoint control, he tends to get lit up.

My guess - Haren gets lit up yet again. Good thing Chacin will also give up some runs. Maybe Tuesday is one of those 11-10 Coors Field specials. I also guess the Nationals will have great chances to win on Wednesday and Thursday if Gonzalez and Zimmermann pitch like normal.

For the Washington roster, I understand why they sent out Tyler Moore. He needs at-bats to get some consistency. Chris Marerro brings a power bat to the bench. Anthony Rendon gains more confidence at 2B seemingly with every game. Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche are coming around a bit more. Similar to last year's visit to Coors, maybe this three-game set will provide a tonic for Washington's hitting ills.