Rockies Could Pull Wade Davis From Closer’s Role | MLB Trade Rumors
The Colorado Rockies are getting close to the end of their rope with closer Wade Davis. On Friday, Manager Bud Black mentioned that Davis’ walk rate was becoming a cause for concern. Entering Friday’s action, Davis’ walk rate had climbed to six per nine innings. Davis has an ERA of 6.00 on the season and while advanced metrics like DRA (5.18) and FIP (4.82) aren’t as ugly, they don’t offer a ton of room for optimism.
It was a rather large implosion for Davis in Thursday night’s affair against the Los Angeles Dodgers and now the Rockies are expressing openness to the possibility of considering a different ninth inning option, as Connor Byrne of MLB Trade Rumors relays. Scott Oberg stands out as an immediate possibility for as replacement.
DJ LeMahieu has not withered outside of Coors | Beyond the Box Score
Plenty of Rockies’ players find success at their home confines of Coors Field only to find their numbers depleted in road ballparks. Of course, this must mean that these players aren’t as talented as their colleagues who play for other teams, right? We, of course, know better here at Purple Row, but one former Rockie may be bringing light to the situation on a national scale.
DJ LeMahieu is the deserved starting second baseman for the American League in the 2019 All-Star Game. He’s having a career year in his first season away from Coors Field, even though the home/road splits when he played with the Rox suggested he couldn’t hit on the road. Mike Petriello had uncovered a few years ago that Rockies’ hitters become better on the road after leaving the Rockies and that appears to have proved itself true once again. At Beyond the Box Score, Kenny Kelly sheds some light on the impressive performance of LeMahieu.
Here are the 2019 Futures Game rosters | MLB.com
The All-Star Futures Game will have a different format this season—it will be a matchup of National League vs American League rather than USA vs World. I’ve gotta say I’m a huge fan of this change, personally. The game will air on MLB Network on July 7 at 5 PM MT.
For the Rockies, Ben Bowden (No. 17 PuRP) will be the organization’s lone representative. Bowden absolutely annihilated opposing hitters in Double-A (1.05 ERA, 42 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings) and was recently promoted to Triple-A.
On the Farm
The story of Friday was Kyle Freeland’s start for the Isotopes—and it did not go well at all. Freeland allowed 10 runs (9 earned) on 12 hits over 3 1⁄3 innings pitched. If we are to look on the brightest side of things possible, this is the Pacific Coast League, so offense will be inflated, and Freeland may be working on things, but this is still rather uninspiring to see nonetheless.
Triple-A: Tacoma Rainiers 15, Albuquerque Isotopes 14 (10 innings)
Double-A: Richmond Flying Squirrels 3, Hartford Yard Goats 2
High-A: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 5, Lancaster JetHawks 2
Single-A: Charleston RiverDogs 12, Asheville Tourists 5
Short-Season A: Boise Hawks 7, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6
Rookie: Ogden Raptors 8, Grand Junction Rockies 4
Grand Junction Rockies 5, Ogden Raptors 4; Game 2 (makeup of 6/27)