Posted on 10/9/2007 3:23:19 PM

MLB Postseason Wagering – Diamondbacks vs. Rockies

By Eric Williams

Okay MLB baseball bettors, with the postseason heading into the second round, it’s time to seriously increase the baseball bankroll with some educated selections for the remainder of the postseason.

This article will focus on the NL matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, two teams that took totally different routes to the postseason – and have achieved their respective first-round victories through those means.

I prefer to think of this matchup as a battle between the slow and steady ‘Tortoise’ (Arizona) and the lightning-quick ‘Hare’ (Colorado), but the reality of this series is that each of these two NL West division rivals have more similarities than most people think.

Let’s get started.

Diamondbacks vs. Rockies

Last week, I went on the BetUS.com baseball podcast and encouraged bettors to take the ‘underdog’ Diamondbacks over the favored Chicago Cubs, with my reasons being quite simple – the age-old adage that good pitching beats good hitting almost every time. After breaking down this matchup, I will reveal my selection for this series as well.

Pitching

The Arizona Diamondbacks ranked seventh in the majors in team pitching with a 4.13 ERA while the Rockies ranked 14th with a 4.32 team ERA. Ironically however, the Rockies’ bullpen (13th) outperformed Arizona’s (10th) by the slimmest of margins (3.85 ERA to 3.95 ERA).

Each team has one legitimate ace, in Arizona starter Brandon Webb and in Colorado lefty Jeff Francis. Webb posted the second-lowest ERA in the majors this season at 3.01 ERA with Francis not far behind with a 4.22 ERA. Webb also won 18 games this season with Francis recording 17 victories. Colorao’s Aaron Cook also posted an impressive 4.12 ERA, while Arizona’s Doug Davis was at 4.31 and Micah Owings at 4.32.During the first round, the Diamondbacks posted a team ERA of 2.00 while the Rockies allowed just 2.33 runs per game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The difference between the starting staffs will likely come as the teams reach their third starters and when the games go to the relievers out of the bullpen. Arizona’s Tony Pena, Brandon Lyon and closer Jose Valverde have been nearly untouchable so far this postseason.

Hitting

The Rockies were fifth in the majors in batting during the regular season, hitting a collective .280 while the Diamondbacks were ranked a next-to-last 29th after hitting a dismal .250 as a team.

However, during the postseason, the teams are much closer in batting, with the Rockies batting .267 as a team and Arizona .266. The Diamondbacks have out-homered Colorado 6-4 and have more walks than the Rockies and nearly as many extra-base hits as well.The Rockies have three .300 hitters in MVP candidate Matt Holliday, veteran Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins, while two other players just missed the .300 mark with Brad Hawpe and Troy Tulowitzki checking in at .292 and .291 respectively.

The Diamondbacks don’t have a single .300 hitter and just one player who hit more than 30 home runs (Chris Young) and only one more who topped the 20-homer mark (Eric Byrnes).In the postseason however, shortstop Stephen Drew is hitting .500 (7-for-14) with two home runs to join Young and Byrnes in the power department.

Head-to-Head

The D-Backs and Rockies played each other 18 times during the regular season with Colorado winning 10 of those matchups. The Rockies won two of the last thee games played between the teams losing the opening game of a three game series 2-4 before winning 11-1 and 4-3  in the final two contests.

Trends

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