The good and the bad of the ninth week of the simulated Rockies season

The Sim Rockies had another down week, despite the flurry of roster moves that they made last week. There were some bright spots, but there were also some down spots. Germán Márquez was sent to Albuquerque to work on some things, but the only bright spot in the rotation seems to be Kyle Freeland at the moment. Maybe it’s time to shake up the pitching even more, and maybe some of the batting lineup.

The good

The Sim Rockies won two games and didn’t get swept in either series, so that’s something.

The home runs are starting to come along. Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, David Dahl, and Trevor Story all hit two apiece.

Sam Hilliard finally broke out, hitting his first home run and bringing his slash up from .069/.129/.069 to .128/.209/.256.

Ryan Castellani pitched much better in his second start on Saturday, going 5 ¹⁄₃ innings and yielding three runs on three hits while walking three and striking out five. He also hit a batter. Compared to his first start in Miami, it looks like some of the debut jitters wore off. Hopefully he can continue that.

Antonio Senzatela dazzled in his last outing with a line of 5 ⅔ IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K. He finally earned his first win. His ERA is still at 5.44, but he hopefully he is trending in the right direction.

Ryan McMahon had a good week at the plate, going 6-for-13 (.462). He also racked up three walks and four strikeouts. No home runs this week, but he’s still looking pretty good.

Despite their recent struggles, the Sim Rockies are still only single digit games out of the playoffs!

The not so good

The Sim Rockies lost three out of five, and still haven’t won a series since the Detroit series.

Tony Wolters continues his struggles at the plate, going only 3-for-12 (.250) this week and being the only Sim Rockie with under 20 hits in over 40 at-bats.

His battery-mate Jon Gray continues to struggle as well, pitching 5 ¹⁄₃ innings in his start. He also gave up five earned runs and walked one but struck out five. He hasn’t gotten blown up necessarily and has a 5.68 ERA, but he’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward.

Joe Harvey hasn’t looked spectacular since his call-up. In his first week, he allowed two earned runs in 2 ¹⁄₃ innings. This week, he nearly doubled that in 5 ²⁄₃ innings by allowing eight earned runs. He has made ten appearances and has a 15.00 ERA. Not great.

★ ★ ★

The Sim Rockies start a streak of 14 straight divisional games without a day off. It would be a great time to turn things around and start making up some ground in the division and the Wild Card standings. This week specifically, they have four at home against the Sim Dodgers and then head west to take on the Sim Giants over the weekend.

As always, check out Ben Kouchnerkavich’s YouTube channel for all the Sim Rockies action. We will broadcast on Monday and Friday for sure but also Thursday and Sunday if the Sim Rockies are in line to sweep either team.