Late in the Colorado Rockies' 15-6 drubbing at the hands of the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, I came across this on my Twitter feed:
I've scanned all possible answers for "Why are you still watching this Rockies game?" and I've arrived at "I hate myself" as the best one
— Dan Lucero (@danluceroshow) August 19, 2015
With the way the Rockies have been playing of late -- all season, really -- I think there are a lot of us who feel that way. As the season has progressed, it has become tougher and tougher for many, myself included, to come up with reasons to watch this team play. That got me to thinking. What are the reasons for watching the Rockies play the last 45 games of their 2015 season? Here are four that will hopefully make it just a little bit easier for all of us to watch the rest of the way.
Jon Gray
It's still very early in his Major League career, but Jon Gray looks like the best and most exciting pitching the prospect have had in quite some time. After the first inning of his first start, one where Gray was pretty clearly experiencing some first inning jitters, he has allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings, a 1.29 ERA. What's more, he's been extremely economical in doing so as he's averaged just 13.4 pitches per inning compared to the league average of 16.1.
Putting the stats like that aside, Gray is just a lot of fun to watch. He's showcased a tailing fastball that averages just over 95 mph to go with a wipeout slider and a change-up that, while still developing, has the potential to be brilliant. For further evidence of his fantastic stuff, watch this video of his brilliant fastball striking out three poor, unsuspecting New York Mets:
2016 starting rotation hopefuls
Gray may be the most exciting, but he isn't the only Rockies starting pitcher worth watching right now. During that time, we'll be seeing several other pitchers who will be looking to make their mark and earn consideration for the 2016 starting rotation. These are guys like Chad Bettis, Chris Rusin, David Hale, and possibly even Yohan Flande and Eddie Butler.
None of these guys are as exciting to watch as Jon Gray, but that doesn't mean that they aren't important to the future of the club. Finding solid, reliable pitchers for the middle and back of the rotation is almost as important as finding that guy to put at the top of it, and that's what the Rockies are hoping at least a few of these guys will become. Bettis and Rusin have already shown flashes of brilliance, but the entire group will look to up their respective values in early competition for next season's starting rotation.
Players building (or losing) trade value
After the season, or perhaps even sometime between now and the August 31 waiver deadline, it's likely that the Rockies will look to trade some of their Major League pieces to bolster the farm system for the future. The names that we hear speculated about the most often are Jose Reyes and Carlos Gonzalez, but there probably aren't many names on the roster right now that are untouchable in trade talks. Knowing that, it would behoove the Rockies to have just about everyone to continue to play well so that they have more value in any potential trade. It might seem like a somewhat bittersweet way of looking at things, but that's the reality that the Rockies face right now. If you'd like, you can always just choose to cheer for the players because it's good for the team. That's true now just like it is at any other time. Plus, that might make some of these games a little less depressing.
Baseball is awesome
This is, perhaps, the most important reason of them all. As far as baseball goes, this is not a fun team to watch. However, not fun baseball is still way more fun than no baseball at all. If you're anything like me, you'll be pining for more baseball, I don't know, two days after the season ends. Enjoy getting to watch it while you can! Rogers Hornsby said it best:
People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
The Rockies are a bad baseball team right now and they can be pretty tough to watch. There's no way to get around that fact. All we can do is try to make the best of it as we look forward to what are hopefully brighter days ahead.