The Rockies are fighting for wins like their season depends on it—and, well, it might. Nick Groke digs into the team’s recent stretch of walk-off wins that have inched them closer to .500 and a fresh start. With the passing of Memorial Day, the 2019 season is about one third of the way complete, and the contenders are beginning to separate themselves from the pretenders. The Rockies could fall into either category still, and the urgency is palpable.
It is a good sign that when push comes to shove, the guys at 20th and Blake are coming up clutch and not losing sight of their goals. Their talent has been on display and they still have a very real chance to make their third straight Postseason. There is no more time for ups and downs and stalled production, though. It’s now or never for the Rockies to make a run on Wild Card positioning, and now they have momentum on their side.
Colorado Rockies: Nolan Arenado wins NL Player of the Week honors | Rox Pile
Nolan Arenado is doing Nolan Arenado things and doing everything he can—and then some—to keep the Rockies in contention. Yesterday, MLB announced their latest Players of the Week, and Nolan took home the honor for the National League after slashing an incredible .538/.556/1.077 over the last week. As Noah Yingling explains, this kind of production will easily make him a candidate for NL Player of the Month for May, too.
The honor even cements Nolan’s name in the Rockies record book among two of the organization’s best players, as Kyle Newman of the Denver Post points out:
#Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado named NL Player of Week for 6th time, matching Dante Bichette and Todd Helton for most such awards by a player in franchise history.
— Kyle Newman (@KyleNewmanDP) May 28, 2019
Arenado batted .538 with four HR, 9 RBIs, 1.077 slugging over six games.
It’s no MVP, or Silver Slugger, or Gold Glove, but it is still a mark of consistency. It’s an honor that shows Nolan is continually regarded as one of the best players in baseball, and he’s ours to treasure and admire every time we watch the Rockies play baseball.
Arenado, Blackmon, Story eye return to ASG | MLB.com
Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and Charlie Blackmon are easily the three faces of the franchise. All three were All-Stars last year, and now it’s time to make them All-Stars again. Thomas Harding explains how you can help make it happen, and how the new All-Star voting process works this year.
Of course, you can certainly vote for more Rockies than just those three, but they stand out above the rest as far as deserving a spot at the Midsummer Classic relative to their peers across the National League.
VOTE NOW! There’s a new way to pick All-Stars | MLB.com
So what’re we going to do about it? Get out and vote for your Colorado Rockies! Click the link to learn more about all the different ways you can vote for your favorite players, and we can send the Chuck-Nado Story to Washington.
What do your NL and AL All-Star ballots look like, Purple Row? It might be early, but share your rosters in the comments. This is hands down some of the best baseball debate of the year, so let’s enjoy it!
On the farm
Rico Garcia pitched another gem for the Yard Goats, going 5.0 innings and giving up two runs on five hits while striking out seven batters. He is 6-1 on the year, and while W-L record might not mean much, his 2.13 ERA and 70/18 K/BB ratio prove that it’s no fluke, either.
Ben Bowden finished the game off with a perfect inning of work for his 16th save of the year and struck out all three batters he faced. Ben is having a remarkable year out of the bullpen, and now owns a 1.31 ERA in 20+ IP with a 33/4 K/BB ratio.
Triple-A: Sacramento River Cats 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 2 | MiLB.com
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 4, Portland Sea Dogs 2 | MiLB.com