Scott Rickenbach



Baseball Picks
4/11/2009
8:10:00 PM OVER 10 RUNS,COLORADO ROCKIES (De La Rosa)
-vs- Philadelphia Phillies (Myers)
Scott Rickenbach’s MLB 1* (regular play) OVER the total in Colorado vs Philadelphia @ 8:10 PM ET: De La Rosa vs Myers – We have to move quickly here with this analysis as this total is already on it’s way from a 10 to a 10.5 in most books. We cashed in with this total yesterday as the Rockies hammered the Phillies. Tonight, we look for the Phillies to bounce back from that defeat and get some offense going but they’re still going to have trouble slowing down the Rockies red-hot offense. Colorado has already scored 30 runs in their first 4 games. Even though Brett Myers of the Phillies has great career numbers against the Rockies, he has given up six homers in his five career starts against them. The wind is expected to be blowing out briskly to right field for this game. This means that left-handed power hitters can take Myers deep just like the Braves big sticks did when they hit three homers against him on Sunday night in the season opener. Myers will struggle once again and the Rockies bats will continue crushing the ball. The Phillies bullpen also struggled some in yesterday’s game and hitter-friendly Coors Field showed why it can be so tough on pitchers. There could be some showers today in Denver but they are expected to be light and shouldn’t cause a great deal of trouble. What will cause trouble (at least for the pitchers) is the brisk winds out of the south and southeast! Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies comes into the season with big expectations because he had a strong second half in the 2008 season. However, we can quickly temper that enthusiasm with some important notes about his second half. If you go back and look, De La Rosa benefited greatly from scheduling in amassing that solid second half last season. He pitched very well against a number of weak teams. However, when he faced tougher lineups, he struggled in a number of those starts. Today, he’s certainly facing a tougher lineup. The Phillies were hurt yesterday by Ryan Howard grounding into three double plays as they certainly were not without their chances in yesterday’s game. Their offense has gotten off to a rather quiet start this season but they’ve also faced some tough hurlers. They hammered De La Rosa when they saw him last season and they can do the same here. Play OVER the total in Colorado as a regular selection.