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The Colorado Rockies have not enjoyed interleague play this year, going 3-12 against a mix of good, middling and downright horrible teams. With two good American League East clubs left on their schedule, the Rockies will have to play well against the Orioles this weekend and at home against the Red Sox in September to improve upon this record.
The Rockies did not fare well against the AL last year, either, going an even worse 2-13. However, prior to 2012, the Rockies had five winning seasons in the past six against the junior circuit. While there are a multitude of issues that led to this down turn for the Rockies, I point to the lack of an impact bat on the bench to be used for designated hitting, which at least helps explain the road woes.
In the last two years, the Rockies have only won three interleague road games. This year, they were able to pull out a 2-1 win in Houston with both catchers in the lineup while struggling to score runs in Toronto, Boston, and their other road game against the Astros. Last year was Jason Giambi's swan song with the Rockies and they won the two road interleague games that he did well in by having huge offensive production: an 11-7 win against Texas and a 12-4 victory over Detroit. Prior to 2012, Giambi, Seth Smith and others gave the Rockies strong bench bats that could be used in the DH role when interleague play came around.
Others have already written about the lack of bench bats this year, so how does the team look moving forward? For the rest of the season, the bench appears to be getting stronger as extra outfielder Corey Dickerson is producing at a much better rate than past options. For 2014, it will depend on how the team addresses the first base/right field issue and if it elects to bring a veteran bat in for the bench. Basically, we will have to wait and see what this winter brings to the club.
Your links for the day:
The Denver Post has an article regarding Dexter Fowler's future with the club. While a valid dicussion, I think that the team gets a lot of value out of him next year at the price of $7 million.
Ian McCue at MLB.com discusses Wilin Rosario's hamstring tweak and Dickerson's hot bat.