21 games down for Sim Rockies: Nolan stays hot while Story struggles

The Sim Rockies went .500 this week, using a 3-3 record to improve to 11-10 on the season — two games behind the Padres for first in the division. Let’s take a look at what we learned this week.

The two pieces of the team’s superstar left side of the infield have opened the season trending in completely opposite directions. Nolan Arenado added three more home runs and nine RBI this week, bringing his season totals to eight and 21, respectively, to go along with a .342 average and 1.147 OPS. That puts him on pace for a season pace of 61 HRs and 162 RBIs — probably not sustainable, but fun to think about regardless.

Trevor Story, on the other hand, has matched Nolan’s numbers from last week (three home runs and nine RBI) throughout the entirety of the first 21 games to go along with a lowly .213 average. That average represents a 44-point increase since last week, however, so maybe Trevor is showing some signs of getting things going.

Let’s take a look at both guys’ numbers through 21 games last year to see how they compare:

These are great increases across the board from Arenado, so it looks like off-season tensions with ownership aren’t affecting his game. The on-field product for Nolan is business as usual. Trevor’s start to 2020 lags slightly behind his 2019 start, but 2019 wasn’t exactly a red-hot March/April for him either. If last year is any indication, it’s a little too early to worry about Story. He does lead the team with four stolen bases (that’s the team total of four), so let’s hope that his success on the base paths can be replicated at the plate.

★ ★ ★

The Rockies will face off against the division rival Giants as well as the Brewers this coming week. You can catch all of the Rockies sim action on Ben Kouchnerkavich’s YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe for future alerts. We’ll be back again next week with another update.