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Closing Time: Coors Field, make it all better

Closing Time: Coors Field, make it all better

The Rockies are typically a mixed bag on the road, and that’s been the case this year. Colorado has a .257/.304/.411 slash away from Coors Field, for an OPS that slots 20th in the majors. Those numbers were boosted Thursday, when the Rockies did to Clay Buchholz what most teams do — take batting practice.

Ah, but now the thin air of Colorado beckons. The weather is warmer. This is about to get fun.

Twenty of the next 32 Colorado games will be in the friendly confines, starting with a three-game set with San Francisco. Matt Cain goes for the Giants on Friday — I still don’t trust him, even with recent form — but then the Rockies have to face the San Francisco treats, Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto.

Nonetheless, we don’t despair — a four-game set with Cincinnati comes next week. That’s likely to be a bonanza. The Reds trot out Jon Moscot, Dan Straily, John Lamb and Alfredo Simon for the four-game series, and they’re backed by the worst bullpen (by far) in the majors.

How can you get in on the fun? Start by looking at Mark Reynolds. He’s off to a respectable .309/.367/.434 start, he covers three positions, and Ben Paulsen is no longer in the way. You can add Reynolds in 88 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Ryan Raburn is always worth a DFS spin when the Rockies face left-handed pitching at home, though that’s only twice in the next week (and one of them is Bumgarner). Still, keep his name tucked away.

Could it be time to seek out D.J. LeMahieu in trade? He’s a .315 hitter over the last month and he’s slotted No. 2 the last two games. Even if he returns to the bottom third of the order, you love dialing him up at Coors. He had a .321 average and 56 runs scored here last year.

Good timing to go after Gerardo Parra, too. He’s been nothing on the road (.241/.241/.352) but the OPS jumps to .909 at Coors. His seasonal numbers are so ordinary (.280-24-3-22-5), I suspect his owners wouldn’t expect the moon for him right now.

-- Hopefully you streamed against Buchholz while the streaming was good. His ERA (6.35) is actually higher than his strikeout rate (5.88), which tells you all you need to know. He’s also been gopher prone (15.4 HR/FB) and had trouble with walks (3.81). I don’t think he’ll start against Baltmore next week; the Red Sox are committed to the season and aren’t going to put up with this sort of mediocrity. The Wheel of Buchholz might be on hiatus for a while.

Pick up those strikeouts, talk to me 
Pick up those strikeouts, talk to me

-- After three years of batting practice, I’ll admit I thought CC Sabathia was completely cooked entering 2016. Somehow, he’s found the fountain of youth — or maybe it’s just a run of good fortune.

Sabathia hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his eight starts, including Thursday’s tough-luck loss to Toronto (7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K). A 2.83 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, that will play anywhere. And he’s amped up the strikeouts of late, with 21 whiffs over his last three starts.

If only we could find more to support the case. Sabathia’s walk rate is the highest it’s been since 2002. His fastball velocity tops out around 89 mph. He’s only allowed one homer all year — we know that’s screaming for correction. And his next two turns are at Toronto and at Baltimore, matchups that scare me. Looks like I won’t be adding to Sabathia’s modest nine-percent ownership tag in Yahoo leagues.

-- Things generally fall right for a team that wins a championship. Karma has flipped on the Royals this year. Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon collided in the field over the weekend, at Chicago — and with disastrous results. Gordon has a broken bone in his wrist, while Moose (torn ACL) is out for the year.

I wish there were more exciting replacements for the KC lineup. Outfielder Whit Merrifield looks like the classic Quad-A player, someone with a forgettable .274/.334/.399 slash in seven minor-league seasons. He’s off to an 8-for-23 start in KC, but with no homers, steals or walks. He’s just a guy. Cheslor Cuthbert, the third baseman of the moment, is also lacking cachet. In 34 major league games to this point, he’s a .229/.264/.352 stick with two piddly homers