Young right-hander Ryan Castellani has been terrific in his first two big-league starts for the Colorado Rockies but is looking for his first victory. He’s on the mound Wednesday against the visiting Houston Astros with the Astros as MLB betting favorites and a huge total.
How to Bet Astros at Rockies MLB Odds & TV Info
- When: Wednesday, 8:40 PM ET
- Where: Coors Field
- Probable pitchers (away/home): Framber Valdez/Ryan Castellani
- TV: MLB Extra Innings
- Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
- Opening MLB Lines: Astros -143, Rockies +132 (total 12.5)
The Astros placed DH and 2019 AL Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez on the 10-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to August 16, with right knee discomfort. Alvarez only made it back for three games before feeling discomfort with the knee. An MRI came back negative, but this is still a concerning development after his knee issues in the spring. Alvarez, 23, batted .313 with 27 home runs and 78 RBIs last season en route to Rookie of the Year honors. Infielder Taylor Jones has been called up from Houston’s alternate training site to take Alvarez’s roster spot.
Ace Justin Verlander played catch Monday for the first time since going down with a forearm strain in his season debut. Astros pitching coach Brent Strom said that all the reports were good in regard to how Verlander felt. It’s still far from a sure thing Verlander pitches this season again.
3B Alex Bregman has reached base safely in all 22 contests this season and in 38 straight dating back to 2019. It is the 4th-longest season-opening on-base streak in Astros history, behind a 23-game streak from Ricky Gutierrez in 1998, and 25-game streaks by Jordan Schafer (2012) and Denis Menke (1969). Bregman’s current 38-game overall streak is the longest active streak in the Majors.
It’s Framber Valdez (1-2, 1.90) on the mound. Valdez limited the Mariners to one run over six innings Friday in the Astros’ 11-1 victory. The Astros gave Valdez nine runs of support in the first inning alone, covering up the lone run he allowed on a Kyle Seager sacrifice fly.
Valdez walked two and hit a batter while giving up a run in the first, but he calmed down quickly and turned in a third straight impressive outing. Valdez spent the rest of the game dominating. He walked just one more batter, struck out four, and induced three double plays as his groundball percentage continues to rise from game to game.
Including an extended relief outing, he’s struck out 22 and walked five over 19 1/3 innings in his last three appearances. He’s having the year of his life right now. He’s walking less people than ever before in his career. In fact, he’s cut his BB/9 by over half. And his strikeouts are going the other way, ranking the best he’s ever seen.
Why Bet on Colorado?He’s in a bit of a mini-slump now, but Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon was hitting .500 through August 11, the 17th game of the season, making him the fifth player in the last 50 seasons to hit .500 or better through his team’s first 17 games, joining Tony Perez (1970, Cincinnati), Rod Carew (1983, California Angels), Larry Walker (1997, Colorado) and Barry Bonds (2004, San Francisco). Blackmon is still well over .400.
The Rockies remain without closer Wade Davis, but manager Bud Black said Tuesday that Wade Davis (shoulder) is “doing better.” Davis suffered a right shoulder strain around the start of the month and has yet to resume throwing. The closer role is wide open with the Rockies at the moment, with Jairo Diaz, Carlos Estevez (if healthy) and Daniel Bard in the mix.
Before Monday’s game, the team put catcher Elias Diaz on the restricted list. Black said Diaz was placed there because he “violated team protocols, some guidelines.” l. It could be a similar situation to what happened with Indians starters Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac, who were placed on the restricted list — and then optioned — after going out two weekends ago in Chicago. Diaz, 29, was batting .250 with a .583 OPS through 12 plate appearances this season for the Rockies.
Rookie right-hander Ryan Castellani (0-0, 1.04) will be making his third Major League start Wednesday at Coors Field. Castellani pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball and struck out seven Friday in his start against the Rangers. The Rockies are being careful with Castellani, who was called up not long ago. He pitched four hitless innings his first time out and he was sharp again vs. Texas, though it did take him 88 pitches to get him his 14 outs.
“I thought Ryan overall was very good again tonight,” Black said after the game. “I thought his stuff played tonight. His fastball worked, a couple different breaking balls, the changeup, they all came into play. He threw the ball well.”
Despite significant control problems in the minors (47:30 K:BB in 43.1 IP at Triple-A last year) he has a surprising 10:3 K:BB through his first 8.2 big-league innings. He’s pitched well enough to stick in the rotation for now.
Game Trends- Astros are 5-2 in their last 7 interleague road games vs. a right-handed starter.
- Astros are 49-21 in their last 70 games as a favorite.
- Astros are 7-3 in their last 10 interleague road games.
- Rockies are 1-4 in their last 5 vs. American League West.
- Rockies are 12-5 in their last 17 games as an underdog.
