Rockies Lineup: Schaeffer Shuffles the Deck for Wednesday's Series Finale vs. Boston

After another mark in the loss column on Tuesday evening, the Colorado Rockies have shifted the lineup to face Ranger Suarez and the Red Sox again.

Colorado Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Same story, different day. The Colorado Rockies dropped Tuesday night’s game to the Boston Red Sox with a final score of 5-2. This means the teams are even at 1-1 in the series.

Wednesday afternoon’s rubber match at Coors Field has manager Warren Schaeffer shuffling the lineup.

The pitching matchup shows a stark difference in 2026 performance and certainly gives the Red Sox the advantage.

Kyle Freeland is handling the duty for Colorado at 1-7 on the season with a 7.36 ERA. On the other side, Ranger Suarez, who has been one of the better left-handers in the American League, will man the mound. He is 3-3 with a 2.93 ERA and 75 strikeouts.

For the Colorado-based team to win the series, they are going to figure out how to do something they didn’t do Tuesday...produce with runners on base.

The Rockies went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight against Sonny Gray.

Wednesday Lineup Changes

Colorado Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer | David Banks-Imagn Images

Schaeffer has decided to shuffle the lineup and positions around to try to find a way to win. Cole Carrigg is getting the start at center field while batting fifth. Mickey Moniak is getting the day off.

Carrigg has been a bright spot for the struggling team hitting .250 with a .900 OPS in his 13 games. Hunter Goodman is moving to DH which gives him a rest and lets Braxton Fulford take over at catcher for the afternoon.

1. 2B Willi Castro (S)
2. RF Tyler Freeman
3. 1B TJ Rumfield (L)
4. DH Hunter Goodman
5. CF Cole Carrigg (S)
6. LF Jake McCarthy (L)
7. C Braxton Fulford
8. SS Ezequiel Tovar
9. 3B Kyle Karros

Other changes from Tuesday include Castro leading off and playing second while Freeman moves up to number two. Rumfield bats third. The lineup should be conducive to getting some more at-bats for the club’s younger players.

Tuesday’s Takeaways

Gray was just too good on Tuesday for the Rockies offense to overcome. He struck out 11 and walked three across a lengthy 7.0 innings of play. He limited Colorado to just two runs on eight hits.

Castro and Tovar each hit long balls, but the offense just couldn’t get any momentum going other than that.

Sean Sullivan, who made his third MLB start, allowed three earned runs in 5.0 innings and took the loss.

There are still bright spots for the Rockies, though. Rumfield keeps showing up and has hit .282 on the year with 12 home runs. Moniak is the team leader in OPS with .925. Goodman has hit 21 home runs. Those numbers matter to a team that is just 31-49.

Wednesday is a tall order against Suarez. The team has proved over and over, sometimes shockingly, that they can find ways to win. They will have to in this matchup.