With less than a month left in the regular season, every game becomes all the more important for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Especially when they are playing the two teams close to them in the National League West standings, the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers took three out of four games from the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium last weekend, largely in part to their stellar starting pitching after readjusting their rotation to have their best face Arizona’s best.
It appears they are doing that again for this weekend’s series against the Rockies at Coors Field. Rich Hill was moved up to start Sunday’s series finale, while Alex Wood will now pitch on Monday against the Cincinnati Reds, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Roberts said Rich Hill will start Sunday in Denver and Alex Wood Monday in Cincy.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) September 7, 2018
There could be a few possible reasons for the change, with one being wanting to give Wood an extra days of rest. He is already approaching his innings total from last season, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts felt Wood labored some his last time out.
Additionally, Los Angeles could be playing matchups. Wood has struggled throughout his career at Coors Field, going 1-2 with a 9.75 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in six starts. On the other hand, he has thrived against the Reds, winning both of his starts while posting a 1.32 ERA and 0.81 WHIP.
Hill hasn’t been much better at Coors Field, going 0-2 with a 7.17 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in four starts. He turned in a solid outing there last month, however, allowing just four hits and two earned runs across six innings.
The Dodgers had already adjusted their rotation last week to put ace Clayton Kershaw in line to toss the series opener against Colorado, and that worked out as he tossed six innings of two-run ball to help the Dodgers earn a victory.
