Dodgers vs Rockies Odds, Betting Lines, and Probable Pitchers (Sep. 23)
- The Los Angeles Dodgers are heavy road favorites over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday afternoon
- The Dodgers send Max Scherzer (15-4, 2.08) to the mound to face Kyle Freeland (6-8, 4.50)
- The odds and pitching matchups can be found below with a prediction
The Los Angeles Dodgers — involved in a hotly-contested division race with the San Francisco Giants — battle the Colorado Rockies at 3:10 pm ET Thursday on getaway day of a three-game series at Coors Field.
LA beat Colorado 5-4 in extra innings Tuesday. The Dodgers entered Wednesday’s action one game out of first place in the National League West standings. For Thursday’s game, manager Dave Roberts sends three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to the mound — which has proven to be a good position to be in for LA. As such, the Boys in Blue are heavy favorites in Denver.
Dodgers vs Rockies Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | -240 | -1.5 (-140) | Over 10.5 (-115) |
| Colorado Rockies | +195 | +1.5 (+120) | Under 10.5 (-105) |
Odds as of September 22nd at DraftKings.
Probable Pitchers
On the mound, LA’s Max Scherzer (15-4, 2.08) faces Kyle Freeland (6-8, 4.50).
The 37-year-old has been nearly unhittable since joining the reigning World Series champions at the trade deadline. All Mad Max has done is go 7-0 in nine starts, posting a 0.78 ERA — with the Dodgers winning every rotation turn. He’s tossed 79 strikeouts, issued only seven walks and has not allowed an earned run in his last 36.2 innings. No pitcher — since earned runs became an official stat in 1913 — has ever had a lower ERA in their first nine games with a team.
Scherzer vs Freeland Key Stats
| 15-4 | Record | 6-8 |
| 2.08 | ERA | 4.50 |
| 2.82 | xERA | 4.31 |
| 0.66 | WHIP | 1.41 |
| 11.29 | SO/W | 2.94 |
All Scherzer did last Saturday was go seven innings against Cincinnati — a team also contending for the postseason — and allow a pair of hits and walks while striking out seven in an eventual 5-1 LA win. It’s as if joining the likes of Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and some other three-time Cy Young winner — some guy named Clayton Kershaw — has inspired the future Hall of Famer to pitch the best baseball of his career.
Max Scherzer's numbers since being traded to the Dodgers:
58IP 5ER 71K 7BB 0.78 ERA 7-0 record.
The Dodgers are 9-0 in his starts.
I have never seen nor will ever see a trade deadline acquisition as good as this one.— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) September 20, 2021
Scherzer is 10-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 15 road starts this season. In 13 day game starts, he has a 8-2 record and 1.65 ERA. The one possible encouraging nugget for Rockies fans: he’s 2-4 with a 4.55 ERA in ten career starts against Colorado. Interestingly, the Rockies are one of only four teams Scherzer owns a lifetime losing record against. The other three — Milwaukee, St. Louis and San Fran — are all likely playoff teams. Scherzer is 0-3 with a 5.88 ERA in five career starts at Coors.
As for Freeland, the 28-year-old has tossed nine quality starts among his 21 turns in the rotation this season, with all but one of them coming since the start of July. The big lefty beat Scherzer’s former team, Washington, on Saturday in a 6-0 decision. The southpaw went six innings, scattering seven hits, allowing only one walk and struck out seven. The Rockies have gone 11-10 in his starts.
Kyle Freeland, Nasty 93mph Sinker. 😨 pic.twitter.com/qrvZzCPiDq
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 18, 2021
Freeland is 3-3 with a 5.36 ERA in nine starts at home in 2021. He’s 3-1 with a 6.21 ERA in seven day game starts.
Mile High Matchup
Simply put, the Dodgers lineup is scary. The team just got more reinforcements, reinstating AJ Pollock from the injured list Tuesday. But the leader of the pack so far in September has been Gavin Lux. In nine games this month prior to Tuesday’s action, the 23-year-old has gone 13-for-28 (.464) including a home run and eight RBI with an OPS of 1.224.
Gavin Lux is under team control until 2027. 🔥🔥🔥 #Dodgers
— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) September 22, 2021
Meantime, Corey Seager flat-out owns Freeland over his career, going 10-for-18 against him, with a double and a home run to his credit and an OPS 1.357. Mookie Betts and Trea Turner have also taken Freeland deep.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Dodgers Batters | Batting Average vs Kyle Freeland | Rockies Batters | Batting Average vs Max Scherzer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mookie Betts | .214 | Garrett Hampson | .500 |
| Corey Seager | .556 | Trevor Story | .000 |
| Trea Turner | .273 | Charlie Blackmon | .267 |
| Max Muncy | .214 | CJ Cron | .222 |
| Justin Turner | .342 | Elias Diaz | .000 |
| Will Smith | .400 | Ryan McMahon | .333 |
Not surprisingly, Thursday’s group of probable Colorado batters that have faced Scherzer have not had much success — like most teams — against him. That said, Blackmon (twice) and Hampson (once) have taken him deep.
Another player to keep an eye on is Brendan Rodgers. In 17 September games prior to Thursday, the 25-year-old infielder has gone 23-for-75 (.319) including four homers and 12 RBI.
Dodgers vs Rockies Pick
Considering Scherzer’s career marks at Coors and his general lack of success, it would be easy to fade the heavy favorite in this spot. But the all-time great has emerged as the leader of a stacked staff and is on a truly historic run.
Freeland might keep Colorado competitive in this one. But you can’t bet against the Dodgers right now.
The Pick: Dodgers -1.5 (-140)
Blair Johnson is a veteran journalist and seasoned sports content creator. He has been writing and producing content as long as he can remember, with such familiar names as CNN, NFL Media and Yahoo. Blair currently lives and works in the greater Los Angeles area.
