On Friday evening, the Philadelphia Phillies (17-21) welcome the Colorado Rockies (15-23) to South Philadelphia.
When these two clubs met in early April, the Phillies managed to take two of three against the Rockies. This included a 10-1 win in their series opener in which the Phillies piled on seven first-inning runs.
Colorado is a much-improved ball club from what we have seen in recent seasons.
On May 8th of 2025, the team was 6-31. In 2024, the Rockies were 8-28. All things considered, they are twice as good in 2026.
The Rockies are being led by former Phillies draft pick Mickey Moniak, who is hitting .318 on the season with a 1.067 OPS and 11 home runs. Moniak is primarily in a platoon role and does not start against left-handed pitching. In his opportunities, however, he has excelled.
Jesus Luzardo (3-3, 5.09 ERA) will take the mound Friday evening for the Phillies.
Luzardo has really turned it on of late, pitching to a 1.50 ERA over his last three outings.
The Phillies' lefty faced the Rockies in Colorado this season, tossing 6.2 innings, allowing just one earned run. He will look to best that performance in the series opener.
On Saturday, the Phillies will send Aaron Nola (2-3, 5.06 ERA) to the mound for his second chance against the Rockies.
Once again, Nola had faced Colorado on the road earlier this season. In that appearance, the Phillies' longest-tenured player tossed 6.1 innings, striking out 9 batters. This was arguably his best outing of 2026.
Nola is coming off a dynamic start against the Miami Marlins that saw him pitch six scoreless frames. If Nola can continue this momentum into his outing with the Rockies, the Phillies should be able to find themselves in a favorable position.
On Sunday, Cristopher Sanchez (3-2, 2.42 ERA) will look to close the chapter with the Rockies for this season.
Sanchez, like his teammates, is coming off his best start of the season.
Against the Athletics, the Cy Young favorite tossed eight scoreless innings. Sanchez struck out 10 batters and allowed just four baserunners (three hits and one walk).
There are two players to keep an eye on in this upcoming series for the Phillies.
The Phillies got back Jhoan Duran from an early-season oblique injury on Tuesday.
While Duran looked a tad shaky, it served as a rehab appearance at the big league level.
With their closer back and a favorable matchup, I would expect Duran to play a big factor this weekend for the Phillies.
Another player to watch will be Alec Bohm.
After not starting in the finale against the A's, Bohm is also not starting Friday night against the Rockies.
Edmundo Sosa is in Bohm's place, potentially signaling a change at third base moving forward. Bohm has statistically been one of the worst hitters in Major League Baseball this season, and it appears manager Don Mattingly has seen enough.
Keep an eye on Bohm's playing time in this series.
