The Rockies roll into Chavez Ravine at 20-36 and somehow it feels worse than that. They've dropped 4 in a row, the last two by a combined 24-7, and now they draw Shohei Ohtani on a night when their offense is held together with duct tape. This series has been a public service announcement for tanking.
Tomoyuki Sugano gets the unenviable assignment. The 36-year-old has actually been one of Colorado's few bright spots — a 3.86 ERA across 10 starts with elite strike-throwing (his calling card in Japan was that 2-to-1 K/BB profile), and his last outing went 6.2 innings of 2-run ball in Arizona. He doesn't miss many bats, but he doesn't beat himself either. Against this Dodgers lineup, that margin is thin.
Then there's Ohtani. A 0.73 ERA. That is not a typo. The Dodgers have him on a managed six-man rotation and capped his last start at 5 shutout innings on 88 pitches against San Diego. He's also, you know, hitting in the middle of the order. The Rockies could face him 4 times tonight and the Sugano-vs-Ohtani column on the scorecard is going to look unkind.
The injury list is where this really gets grim for Colorado. Kris Bryant is still shelved with the back issue that won't go away, Brenton Doyle and Mickey Moniak are on the IL, Jordan Beck too, and the rotation is missing Dollander, Quintana, and Feltner. The Dodgers are banged up themselves — no Muncy, no Snell, no Glasnow — but when your B-team is the defending champs' B-team, you're still fine.
- Day-To-DayTJ Rumfield 1B — X-rays on Rumfield's right hand came back negative, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.
- Day-To-DayBrayan Castillo RP — The Rockies announced Monday that Castillo is dealing with right lat tightness and has been shut down from throwing while undergoing treatment for the injury, TheDNVR.com reports.
- Day-To-DayCase Williams SP — Williams is currently slowed by a stress reaction in his right triceps, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.
- Day-To-DayJared Thomas CF — The Rockies announced Monday that Thomas hasn't been participating in spring training while he recovers from offseason surgery to address a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist, TheDNVR.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILMickey Moniak LF — Moniak is not in the starting lineup Thursday night against Arizona.
- 10-Day-ILBrenton Doyle CF — The Rockies announced that Doyle is considered day-to-day after suffering a left oblique contusion during Tuesday's 10-0 loss to the Rangers, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILJordan Beck LF — Beck went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI on Saturday against Atlanta.
- 15-Day-ILRyan Feltner SP — Feltner (elbow) struck out five and allowed one earned run on six hits and one walk across five innings Sunday in a rehab start for Triple-A Albuquerque.
- Day-To-DayMax Muncy 3B — Muncy (wrist) remains out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Rockies.
- 15-Day-ILTyler Glasnow SP — Glasnow (back) played catch Monday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
- 15-Day-ILBrock Stewart RP — Stewart (foot) has started a throwing program, per MLB.com.
- 15-Day-ILBlake Snell SP — Snell (elbow) will undergo the same "nano scope" procedure Tuesday that Tarik Skubal had earlier in May, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILJack Dreyer RP — The Dodgers placed Dreyer on the 15-day injured list Sunday due to left shoulder discomfort.
- 60-Day-ILEvan Phillips RP — Phillips (elbow) is facing hitters Tuesday for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
- 60-Day-ILEdwin Diaz RP — Diaz (elbow) is expected to start a throwing progression Tuesday or Wednesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
- 60-Day-ILTommy Edman 2B — Edman (ankle) will start his rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.
The market reflects all of it. LA is a -392 moneyline favorite with 91% of DK tickets and 82% of the handle pounding the home side, and the run line is the rare game where books disagree — Pinnacle has it at 2.5, DK at 1.5. Pinnacle's 8.5 total with juice to the under tells you sharps expect Ohtani to do Ohtani things early and the Rockies to maybe scratch out a few late against the Dodgers' depleted pen. Hard to find an edge here unless you think Sugano outpitches Ohtani, and I'm not putting that in writing.