Colorado Rockies game no. 3 thread: Ryan Feltner vs Taj Bradley

Will the Rockies win their opening series for the first time since 2022?

Grab your coffee and orange juice! Or maybe a Bloody Mary or mimosa! Or perhaps all of the above! And maybe some breakfast food in there somewhere…

The Colorado Rockies have some morning baseball coming your way today!

After dropping Friday’s opener 3-2, the Rockies held on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 behind some pitching and defensive wizardry that included multiple Rays cut down at home. Not only did they win the game, they put themselves at a .500 record for the first time since April 2, 2023 after splitting their four-game opening series against the San Diego Padres.

But now they’re setting their sights higher: win their first series of the 2025 campaign. If they’re able to do so, it will mark their first season-opening series since taking two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022, and their first season-opening road series win since taking two of three at the then-brand new Globe Life Park in 2020. It will also mark their first time winning a season-opening road series in front of fans since taking three of four against the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017. If Tampa wins, they will improve to 6-0-1 in season-opening series dating back to 2019.

So far some things are clicking, even if the offense has only put up three runs so far. Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela became the first starters in franchise history to allow no runs in the first two games of the season. Hunter Goodman has doubled in each game, becoming the third catcher in franchise history to do so (Chris Iannetta, April 1-2, 2011; Joe Girardi, April 26-27, 1995). Jordan Beck stole two bases on Friday, tying Chris Owings (2021) for the most stolen bases in a Rockies Opening Day game. And Ryan McMahon reached base four times in Friday’s Opener, the 17th time a Rockie has reached base four times on Opening Day and McMahon’s second year in a row doing so.

Ryan Feltner will take the ball this morning to make his 2025 debut. Feltner had an excellent 2024 campaign, making a career-high 30 starts and posting a 3-10 record and 5.24 ERA. He made five starts in spring training, posting a 2-1 record and 6.14 ERA. He allowed 10 earned runs over 14 ²⁄₃ innings with 11 walks and 16 strikeouts, but five of the 10 runs came in a lopsided start against the Texas Rangers on March 14. Feltner has faced the Rays one other time in his career, where he threw six innings and allowed just one run on two hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

Feltner will face Rays’ third-year right-hander Taj Bradley. Bradley was drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft and made his MLB debut on April 12, 2023. He is already 17 strikeouts shy of 300 over two years, posting 129 in his first season (23 appearances, 21 starts) and 154 in his second (25 starts). Bradley will be facing the Rockies for the first time in his career, but he is 0-2 with a 14.59 ERA in three other starts against other NL West opponents.

Can the Rockies get to the young right-hander this afternoon to win the rubber match? Or will they let him reach 300 career strikeouts? Tune in to find out!

First Pitch: 11:40 a.m. MT

TV: Rockies.tv

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM, KNRV 1150 AM (Spanish)

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