Rodón Looks to Close Out Rockies as Yankees Aim to Finish Series Strong
The Yankees have a chance to finish the job Thursday night, closing out a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies as Carlos Rodón takes the mound against a Rockies club that has struggled to find consistent answers on the mound all season.
This is Game 3 of the series, and while the first two matchups didn't produce a decisive edge on the scoreboard through the early frames, New York enters Thursday with plenty of momentum behind it. At 80-62, the Yankees have separated themselves with a +110 run differential, scoring 4.5 runs per game while limiting opponents to 3.7. That kind of two-way performance is exactly what contending teams need to build down the stretch of a long regular season, and Thursday offers another chance to bank a win before Colorado heads back west.
The matchup on paper favors New York significantly. Rodón brings a 3.094 ERA into the start, a number that reflects the kind of frontline stability the Yankees have needed from their rotation all year. Across town, Ryan Feltner takes the ball for Colorado carrying a 5.906 ERA, and the Rockies' underlying numbers explain why: they're allowing 5.7 runs per game against just 4.7 scored, a brutal -140 run differential that ranks among the worst marks in the sport. At 55-88, Colorado is playing out the string of a lost season, and this series has been a clear show of the gap between a team playing for October and one simply trying to finish healthy.
Recent form tells two different stories. The Yankees have alternated results against San Diego and Los Angeles over their last five, going 3-2 with a mix of blowout wins (7-3, 6-3 over the Angels) and tighter losses to the Padres. It's the profile of a team that's dangerous when it's clicking but still capable of flat nights — the 2-3 and 3-4 losses to San Diego serve as reminders that even a good club can get out-executed on a given night. Colorado, meanwhile, has bounced around in high-scoring, sloppy games against St. Louis and Baltimore, including an 8-10 loss and a 10-7 win, suggesting a pitching staff that simply can't keep the ball in the park or off the barrel with any regularity.
Health remains a major storyline for both sides, and neither is operating close to full strength. New York is still without Aaron Judge, who remains on the 60-day injured list, along with Giancarlo Stanton, Clarke Schmidt and Kervin Castro all shelved long-term. Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham are both dealing with shorter-term injuries as well, thinning an outfield that would otherwise be one of the sport's most fearsome. Colorado's situation is arguably worse from a pitching depth standpoint — Kyle Freeland, Jose Quintana, Chase Dollander, McCade Brown and Sean Sullivan are all unavailable in some form, gutting a rotation that was already overmatched. Add in the absences of Ezequiel Tovar, Willi Castro, Hunter Goodman and Mickey Moniak, and the Rockies are fielding a lineup running well below its intended ceiling.
Even with Judge sidelined, the Yankees' offense has options. Ben Rice has been up and down of late — a quiet 2-point game alongside 28 and 36-point efforts — but he's shown real ceiling as a middle-of-the-order threat. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Luis García Jr. give New York more table-setting punch, while Paul Goldschmidt continues to provide professional at-bats even if his recent output has been inconsistent. For Colorado, Jake McCarthy has been the one consistent bright spot, riding a scorching stretch that includes back-to-back huge outputs, but he can't do it alone against a Yankees pitching staff fronted by Rodón in this kind of form.
There are no fantasy point projections available for Thursday's game, so this preview leans on what the numbers and recent form actually show: a Yankees team with a clear pitching advantage, a healthier top of the lineup relative to Colorado's rotation crisis, and every incentive to close out this series before turning attention to the next opponent. Colorado's lineup has shown it can produce runs in bunches, as its recent scores against St. Louis and Baltimore prove, but asking Feltner's staff to slow down a Yankees lineup that's already flashed multiple six-and seven-run outputs this week feels like a tall task.
Prediction: Yankees 6, Rockies 2. Rodón turns in another efficient, contact-managing outing while the Yankees' top of the order takes advantage of a beleaguered Rockies pitching staff to close out the series finale.
