The Colorado Rockies have work to do. A lot of it. That all starts again on Wednesday evening when they take the field for the final of a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs .
The Rockies have split the last two games and walk into Wednesday night's matchup sitting at 28-46, last in the National League West.
Trying to gain some momentum, Colorado has decided to send Sean Sullivan to the mound.
Wake Forest has to be proud of its alumni taking the mound in MLB. Sullivan is now making his second career start after debuting on June 12 against the Athletics . He was everything the Rockies could have wished for in that start, and that's a good thing because this team needs some hope.
Sullivan worked through that start like a veteran. He threw three innings of scoreless baseball, allowed two hits, and gave up one walk while earning two strikeouts. Given the struggles this team has in the pitching department, Sullivan was a breath of fresh air.
Wednesday evening's task will be significantly harder. The Cubs are sending Javier Assad to the mound who is 4-1 on the year with a 3.99 ERA. The Rockies have recently seen Assad on June 12, where he schooled them to a 5-1 loss with six shutout innings.
The matchup surely does not favor Sullivan here, but it is way too early in his career to make too many assumptions. One thing is certain though, the Colorado offense is going to have to manufacture enough runs to keep this game competitive.
Colorado Rockies center fielder Jake McCarthy | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
As usual, Warren Schaeffer has made adjustments to his lineup from earlier in the series. That is a constant with the Rockies - the lineup will change.
LF Jake McCarthy (L)
1B TJ Rumfield (L)
C Hunter Goodman
CF Cole Carrigg (S)
2B Edouard Julien (L)
DH Sterlin Thompson (L)
3B Kyle Karros
McCarthy continues to give the Rockies a good combination of contact and speed. Rumfield hitting third is putting one of the more consistent bats toward the top. Of course Goodman is the cleanup man as he is the most dangerous bat Colorado has to send to the box.
Cole Carrigg has made quite an impression in just eight games at the major league level. He is slashing .233/.324/.600 with a .924 OPS and three home runs.
Notably, both Troy Johnston and Willi Castro are both missing from the lineup for this finale. This is the first time in months that Johnston wasn't in the lineup against a right-handed pitcher.
In other Rockies news, two roster moves were made on Wednesday ahead of the Cubs finale. Right-hander Jimmy Herget has been reinstated from the 15-day IL after being sidelined with right shoulder impingement.
Herget should add some more depth and options to the bullpen, which is a huge need for the struggling Colorado team.
To make room on the roster, the Rockies optioned Seth Halvorsen to Triple-A Albuquerque. Clearly, this had to be out of necessity rather than performance as Halvorsen has looked pretty good as of late. He has posted a 3.31 ERA in 17 relief appearances for the organization.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/rockies/onsi as Rockies Lineup: Looking to Steal Series Win, Sean Sullivan Takes the Wrigley Mound .
