From HS to MLB: Arenado, Chapman face off | Rockies.com
Oftentimes, Nolan Arenado is clearly the most talented third baseman on the field in a Colorado Rockies game. That makes it quite fun when other elite third basemen play the Rox. One player who has started to establish himself as a member of the “elite” category is Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman, who will be on full display in this weekend’s series at Coors Field. Chapman has posted a .269/.360/.472 slash for the A’s, with a whopping 23 Defensive Runs Saved, leading to an overall 4.2 fWAR entering Friday’s action. Being tremendous players at the same position isn’t where the similarities end for Arenado and Chapman.
The two were high school teammates at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, California, where the 25-year-old Chapman was 27-year-old Arenado’s “understudy.” As Nolan puts it, “Our high school coach is probably really happy.”
Colorado Rockies: Here comes another grueling stretch | Rox Pile
The A’s are just one of the very talented teams that the Rockies will be facing in a tough stretch of baseball. The next 16 games will feature no opponents with a record under the .500 mark. “The road to Rocktober is going to be rough,” writes Rox Pile’s Aaron Hurt.
BSN Rockies Podcast: A big game and a big trade | BSN Denver
In the latest episode of the BSN Rockies podcast, Drew Creasman recaps an exciting series that just wrapped up with another very talented team in the Houston Astros, and Patrick Lyons joins the podcast to discuss news from the Rockies’ minor leagues.
In Seunghwan Oh, the Rockies added a reliable reliever and a Coors Field concern | The Athletic ($)
Seunghwan Oh will hopefully be with the club by the time of this article’s publication, after dealing with travel inconveniences in his journey to rescue the Rockies’ bullpen. Oh’s numbers have been very solid in the 2018 campaign with the Toronto Blue Jays and appear to offer an instant upgrade over several members of the current iteration of the Rockies’ ‘pen. As Nick Groke of The Athletic concedes, however, if there is one flaw in Oh’s game, it’s the fact that he’s a fly-ball pitcher. Oh has done a solid job of limiting the home run ball in 2018, giving up 0.96 long balls per nine innings, but a 50.4% fly-ball percentage (7th-highest in MLB) might be something to keep in mind.
Colorado Rockies trade talk: What are they waiting for? | Rox Pile
Rox Pile’s Luke Mullins says the time is now for the Rockies to go after top talent leading up to Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline— even if it means parting with top prospects.
Bridich discusses Rockies’ Deadline strategy | Rockies.com
For his part, General Manager Jeff Bridich by no means said that he was finished making moves, but was clear to state that it’s important for “some players on this team…to be the ones that play better.”
Colorado Rockies: Gerardo Parra’s quiet slump | Rox Pile
One player who could stand to be better is Gerardo Parra, whose .286/.338/.390 batting line is good for a .318 wOBA and 82 wRC+. It’s gotten even worse as we’ve dived deeper into the #SummerOfParra. Since June 28, Parra has produced an OPS of .592. It’s curious that the Rockies have elected to keep Parra and three catchers on their 25-man roster over both Raimel Tapia and David Dahl, who have both shown more offensive potential this season.
Midseason re-rank of all teams’ Top 30 Prospects | Rockies.com
MLB.com revisits the game’s top prospects. The Rockies see Robert Tyler make big strides, while Ryan Rolison and Grant Lavigne from this year’s draft class enter the picture.