Major League Baseball's 2024 Mexico City Series goes down this weekend and features a pair of games between the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies. Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, in Mexico's capital and largest city, will be the host venue.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on MLB Network, Rockies.TV, and the Space City Home Network, and Sunday's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and, once again, for in-market fans it'll be Rockies.TV and Space City Home Network.
Saturday's game
The Rockies will be the home team for the series opener. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. The Astros will start right-hander Ronel Blanco. This season, he's got a sparkling ERA of 1.33 through four starts and 27 innings, plus a shiny no-hitter, with a much more ordinary K/BB ratio of 1.83. The Rockies will counter with righty Cal Quantrill. Quantrill in 2024 has pitched to a 4.33 ERA over five starts with a 1.25 K/BB ratio.
Sunday's game
The second game of the series marks Houston's turn to be the home team. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. The Astros trot out ace Framber Valdez (yes, he's the Astros ace even with Justin Verlander now on the active roster). This season, Valdez owns an ERA of 2.19 in a pair of starts. He's finished in the top 10 of the American League Cy Young balloting in each of the last two seasons. Colorado goes with lefty Austin Gomber. Gomber on the young season has an ERA of 4.32 in five starts.
Now here are some more things to know about this series.
1. The Astros need to get something going
This year's Mexico City Series features what have thus far been two of MLB's worst teams in 2024. In the case of the Rockies, that's not all that surprising. With Houston, though, the early struggles are a sharp departure from recent history. The Astros are every bit a modern dynasty in MLB, as they've won a pair of World Series titles during their current run (2017 and 2022) and have made it at least to the American League Championship Series in each of the last seven postseasons. That makes their current straits all the more jarring.
Speaking of which, the Astros are right now in last place in the AL West – yes, behind even the A's – and their current record stands at 7-19 under first-year manager Joe Espada. That dismal record is backed up by a similarly dismal run differential of minus-36. They come into the Mexico Series having lost five in a row, including a sweep at the hands of the Cubs. The good news for the Astros is that the Rockies are arguably even worse, so therein lies an opportunity for Houston to get a touch of positive momentum going. That's something they badly need, to say the least.
2. Runs might be easy to come by
Thanks in large measure to the elevation – Mexico City is 7,349 feet above sea level, or more than 2,000 feet higher than Denver – the ball figures to fly out of Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú this weekend. Given that the Rockies will be in town, the comparisons to Coors Field will be frequent. Harp Helú, however, is really on a different level. The difference in altitude was just noted, and the dimensions of the two fields are also notable. Coors Field is 347 feet down the left-field line, 390 in the left-field power alley, 415 to center, 375 to the right-field power alley and 350 down the right-field line. In the meantime, Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú is 325 down both lines and 400 to center.
Or, as Ben Lindbergh of the Ringer wrote in 2017:
"Physics of baseball expert Alan Nathan estimates via email that the air density in Mexico City is only 76 percent relative to sea level, compared with 82 percent at Coors. According to Nathan's calculations — holding all else equal except altitude — a "standard long fly ball" with a 103 mph exit speed and a 27.5 degree launch angle would travel 398 feet at sea level. At Coors, it would fly 427 feet. And in Mexico City, it would cover 438 feet."
Indeed, in the inaugural Mexico City Series held last year, the Padres and Giants teamed up for a total of 37 runs and 14 home runs (!) over their two contests at Harp Helú.
3. This is the seventh regular-season MLB series in Mexico
MLB under commissioner Rob Manfred has emphasized growing the sport internationally, and that's led to an uptick in the number of games played abroad. Speaking of which, this is the seventh time that MLB will hold a regular-season series in Mexico. Last year's edition was in Mexico City, and the previous Mexico Series was in Monterrey. Here's a look back:
- 1996 Mexico Series: Mets vs. Padres
- 1999 Mexico Series: Rockies vs. Padres
- 2018 Mexico Series: Padres vs. Dodgers
- 2019 Mexico Series: Reds vs. Cardinals, Astros vs. Angels
- 2023 Mexico Series: Padres vs. Giants
As you can see, this year's combatants, the Rockies and Astros, have participated in the series before. The Padres, likely because of San Diego's close proximity to Mexico, lead all comers with four Mexico Series appearances.
