It’s an unusual day, so why not roll with an unusual post? Here’s the Colorado Rockies lineup for tonight’s NL Wild Card game.
Colorado Rockies Lineup:
- Charlie Blackmon, CF
- DJ LeMahieu, 2B
- Nolan Arenado, 3B
- Trevor Story, SS
- Matt Holliday, LF
- Ian Desmond, 1B
- David Dahl, RF
- Chris Iannetta, C
- Kyle Freeland, P
I can’t pretend to be intimately familiar with the Rockies everyday lineup – or how this varies from it – but I know from our NL Wild Card Game Preview earlier today that Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado, and David Dahl have all been swinging it lately, and each player is in the lineup tonight, as expected.
But there is an unexpected lineup and defensive alignment decision for the Rockies tonight: Matt Holliday batting fifth and playing left field. According to Rockies.com, tonight will be Holliday’s first start since September 22nd, but the decision to include him (over Carlos Gonzalez) was due to his platoon advantage against Jon Lester, as well as his history against him (7-15, 2B). Holliday has only received 65 plate appearances in the big leagues this season, though he did hit quite well in his limited duty (123 wRC+).
But more notable than his abilities at the plate are his relative inabilities as a left fielder. Holliday, 38, has never been a good defensive outfielder, but at 38 and after hardly playing this year, it stands out even more. Throw in the fact that the Rockies have a lefty on the mound, which means the Cubs have a ton of righties (who will pull the ball) in the lineup, and the decision becomes all the riskier. Clearly, the Rockies are going for offense at the expense of defense tonight. We’ll see if it pays off.
This is a tough lineup – there’s no doubt about that – that’s been especially hot lately. Jon Lester will have his work cut out for him, but that’s just the way he likes it. As usual, we’ll have your full Pre-Gamin’ post closer to game time (7:08 CT).