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Corey Dickerson's absence sure didn't help things

All he does is hit. The Rockies could have used more of that from their left fielders this year.

By Mitch Hahn
Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the 22nd Purple Row edition (and 127th overall) of Tuesdays With Mitch, where we watch the playoff races from afar. Let's get into it...

Coming into the 2015 season, it was assumed by many that the Rockies' offense would need to be a beast for the team to contend. One major piece of this puzzle was Corey Dickerson. After a breakout 2014 season (.312/.364/.567, 24 HR, OPS+ 142), most Rockies fans were hopeful that Dickerson would build on his success and contribute to a lineup that could be the National League's best.

That hasn't happened. Instead, Dickerson's season has been plagued by injury. He wasn't a regular in the Rockies' lineup for the majority of the year, playing in just 49 of the Rockies' 144 games to date. But when Dickerson has played, he's been a good hitter.

And that's not much of a surprise to anybody.

And since #DICKMANIA is back and hitting well again, it got me thinking about what the Rockies have missed with him sitting in the dugout instead of standing in the batter's box.

Coming into Monday night's game in Los Angeles, Dickerson has hit .309/.341/.512 with 6 homers, 11 doubles and 19 RBIs in just 170 plate appearances in 2015. Project those counting numbers out to 600 plate appearances and you're looking at 21 homers, 39 doubles and 67 RBI (though I'm convinced the RBI total would be higher, as those tend to come in bunches for a hitter like Dickerson).

That kind of production has been sorely missed by an underwhelming Rockies' offense all season, particularly from an important corner outfield position. Then, when Dickerson went down, the Rockies' didn't have much of a contingency plan in place.

Drew Stubbs, whom the Rockies counted on as a fourth outfielder seemed to strike out twice in each at bat early in the year. (Seriously, remember how cringe-inducing those were? Gah!). Brandon Barnes was called up from AAABQ to help in left field. Barnes provided a nice spark, but proved not to be a starting outfielder on a contender. Ben Paulsen played some left field, but his bat (and glove) was needed to provide stability at first base as Wilin Rosario struggled. Eventually Kyle Parker was called up to play some left field, too. He's been... bad. Indeed, the Dickerson-less Rockies' left fielders have floundered.

Here's a look at each player's numbers when playing left field:

Brandon Barnes: 184 PA, .265/.344/.364 (.708 OPS)

Kyle Parker: 75 PA, .159/.227/.290 (.517 OPS)

Ben Paulsen: 44 PA, .256/.341/.462 (.803 OPS)

Drew Stubbs: 40 PA, .212/.333/.545 (.878 OPS). (It should be noted that a couple of these plate appearances have come as a left fielder for the Rangers. Stubbs has one start in left field in Texas. He has yet to get a hit as a Ranger.)

Comparing those numbers to Dickerson's aforementioned slash line this season of .309/.341/.512 gives you a pretty good idea of what the Rockies have missed out on.

Now, it's important to note that even with a healthy and productive Dickerson, the Rockies are not a playoff team in 2015. Dickerson probably wouldn't have provided enough of a boost to make them even a .500 team.

But his absence from the Rockies' everyday lineup was just one more punch to the chin for a team struggling to stay on it's feet.

Now we head to the weekly departments, and with football season officially, officially upon us, I'm introducing a new feature...

Short and sarcastic thoughts on local football teams that in no way reflect how I actually feel:

Denver Broncos: Only winning by six points against a Super Bowl contender during your first game with a new offensive system, new offensive line and new head coach is not acceptable at all. This team has no chance of improving and should probably just quit.

Colorado Buffaloes: Winning a game against UMASS completely redeems the bad loss to Hawaii. The Buffs look ready to make some noise! All that preseason optimism was clearly well-founded.

Colorado State Rams: Losing in overtime to a top-35 team in Minnesota without their best player showed more bad than good. No shot against CU this weekend.

Air Force Falcons: Another ho-hum win for a boring program. There's no way they're the best college team in the state.

Wyoming Cowboys: Losing their first two games, both at home, by a combined 30 points to a Big Sky team and a MAC team is no big deal at all. I'm sure they'll bounce back and avoid going 0-12.

Vine of the week:

Easy winner!. (It's better with sound.)

So much awesomeness here. A quick breakdown of the awesome things that are awesome inside of this awesome Vine:

  • The intensity and determination on the running approach.
  • The right foot slip.
  • (Obviously) The faceplant , complete with hair-whip.
  • The double-palm slap.
  • The one-second pause to gather herself.
  • The quick look to the helper-grown-up-lady while jusssst barely smiling.
  • The look on the face of the helper-grown-up-lady.
  • The similar, but somehow more funny,"Ohh." reaction of the mom in the background.

I want to frame this Vine.

Stud(s) of the week:

Roberta Vinci shocked the world and prevented Serena Williams's grand slam by winning in the semis of the U.S. Open. What followed was a cool interview, which included this awesome answer:

Ass of the week:

Hey look at Pacman Jones just rip Amari Cooper's helmet off then slam his head into said helmet.

What the hell, man? Jones will be fined, but probably not suspended. Not sure that makes any sense.

Tweet of the week:

EPIC BURN BRO!

I've said it before, I'm all for Twitter accounts of official companies, teams, organizations, etc. having more fun with Twitter. The medium is there! Make it fun! Tweets like this are fun.

Some other stuff from around the internet:

If you've ever wondered what the acronym "IDGAF" means, let this GIF explain:

Why does this stuff always seem to involve Jeff Franceour?

Tailgating with Buffalo Bills fans seems like an interesting time.

I love the internet so damn much:

I'm wondering if "groin punches" are a violation of the BYU student honor code or whatever they call it.

Related: That player has an interesting bio page. He's one of 12 children and his favorite food is horse meat. Okay then.

More groin pain in football! (GIF via Uproxx)

And finally, Trent Dilfer has figured out the secret to the NATIONAL FOOTBAW LEAGUE!

He says it with such conviction! I think we need more people sitting at desks talking about football. It's always extremely insightful.

Happy Tuesday, everybody. Thanks for readin'. See ya next week.

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Comment on any of this stuff below, or email me at mdhahn1@yahoo.com with post ideas, videos, or other media I should know about. Follow me on Twitter @TuesWithMitch.

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