Two games post-all star game and the Brewers are 0-2. We'll see if they can turn that around today.
The Rockies will have their talented 23 year old Venezuelan, Jhoulys Chacin (8-7. 3.16), on the mound today. Chacin has had early success in his career, racking up a 3.29 ERA and 3.90 FIP over the last couple of seasons. This year, he has a 7.79 K/9, a 3.86 BB/9, a 4.21 FIP and a 3.49 xFIP. The righty is a significant ground ball pitcher, accumulating a 57.3 ground ball percentage in 2011. If Chacin continues to improve (a likely safe bet) the Rockies could potentially have a very good top of the rotation with Chacin, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Jorge De La Rosa, once Of The Rose gets healthy again.
Chacin throws four pitches, primarily: A 91 MPH four seamer, a 90 MPH two seamer, an 83 MPH slider, and a 79 MPH curveball. He'll also occasionally work in a changeup. Both this season and on his career, fangraphs has Chacin's fastball well below average while his breaking pitches have been well above average. Still, he has thrown a fastball nearly 60% of the time this season.
Chacin has only faced two current Brewers. Both Nyjer Morgan and Josh Wilson have three plate appearances against him and both have a .333/.333/.333 slash line.
For the Brewers, Zack Greinke (7-3, 5.45) gets the call. Greinke has been a source of much frustration for Brewers fans as his FIP (2.99) and xFIP (2.15) are both phenomenal, but he still keeps giving up runs as his fastball seems to be flat this season with no movement, causing it to be hit hard by opposing batters. His 11.99 K/9 and 1.94 BB/9 are the best they have ever been in Greinke's career, but his 1.33 HR/9 is the worst it's been since his rookie year. He has traditionally been somewhat better after the all star break, racking up a 3.78 ERA post-ASG compared to a 4.03 ERA pre-ASG.
Greinke has faced three current Rockies players at least ten times. Here is how they've fared:
| PA | Slash Line | |
| Jason Giambi | 23 | .333/.391/1.048 |
| Ty Wigginton | 17 | .250/.294/.438 |
| Mark Ellis | 16 | .333/.375/.400 |
I haven't seen the lineup for today yet. If you have, go ahead and post it in the comments.
In the Bullpen:
John Axford pitched 1 inning (7 pitches) yesterday.
Takashi Saito pitched 1 inning (21 pitches) yesterday.
Marco Estrada pitched 2 innings (37 pitches) Thursday.
Zach Braddock faced four batters (25 pitches) Thursday.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched one inning (18 pitches) Thursday.
Kameron Loe pitched one inning (13 pitches) Thursday.
Francisco Rodriguez hasn't pitched since before the All Star break.
Don't forget to get your prognostikegger predictions in!