If you missed Tuesday’s game that served as a continuation of Germán Márquez’s great start to the season, here’s your summary.
Germán Márquez: Very good
Yency Almonte: Very good
Nolan Arenado: Very good
Oh, you want a real summary? Well our Joelle Milholm has you covered.
Rockies 5, Giants 2: Márquez keep San Francisco in check | Purple Row
So many things have gone right for the Rockies to start this year off, that it’s been tough to give praise to all those who deserve it. One of the players who has fallen victim to this phenomenon? Charlie Blackmon.
Colorado Rockies morning after: Are we overlooking Charlie Blackmon? | RoxPile
When you have a player making his first appearance in the Majors in seven years (Daniel Bard), another rediscovering himself while wearing Rockies purple after years of terrorizing the club as an opponent (Matt Kemp), and a pitching staff with the sixth best ERA in the league, it’s easy to see why Blackmon hasn’t been the top story.
But who’s to say he shouldn’t be?
This is a guy who missed the beginning of Summer Camp due to a positive COVID-19 test. Not a bad story in and of itself. I think it’s safe to say he hasn’t experienced any post-virus ill-effects. Knock on wood. Instead he’s knocked the ball around to the tune of a .390 batting average, 11 RBI, and currently, an eight-game hitting streak.
It looks like Charlie caught wind of the articles prior to Opening Day claiming nobody could hit .400 in a 60 game season and wanted a say in the matter. Maybe then he’ll be getting the attention he deserves.
Owings finds swing after two tough years | MLB.com
That very list of great stories from the first 10 games of this season wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Chris Owings. After breaking out with the Diamondbacks in 2013, Owings saw steady success until a stretch of 2018-2019 where he hit .180 in 172 games. Usually, a collapse like that can mean the end of a player’s career, but for Chris, hard work and a never-give-up attitude mean he’s back to playing the way he wants and finding success with this Colorado team.
“I had a lot of tough nights driving home, questioning whether you’re going to be playing for much longer,” he said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’m working on the right things now and drastically changed the way I go about my business.”
Now, the Rockies are reaping the benefits of that hard work — Monday night’s 7-6 victory over the Giants featured two hits from Owings — one of which was an eighth inning homer that proved to be the difference.
Rockies power rankings: How the national media ranks Colorado entering Week 2 | The Denver Post ($)
I’m willing to admit that I frequent the news sources that tend to produce positive content about the Rockies. If you’re like me, it’s probably best to take a look at how the national media views this team. While not everyone is as gung-ho on the club as I was led to believe from the inside of my Rockies bubble, the team is getting some of the national recognition that they deserve.
Both Bleacher Report and CBS Sports gave the Rockies the six spot in their weekly Power Rankings, not far from their current location in the standings (4th best win percentage in baseball). Sports Illustrated (15th), The Athletic (17th), and ESPN (21st) are where things start to go awry for the Rockies.
Fortunately for us, despite their name, Power Rankings don’t hold any true weight. As long as the Rockies keep playing the way they have been, I don’t really care how the people online rank them.
Marlins blank Orioles in long-awaited return following coronavirus outbreak | ESPN
While not Rockies-related, I feel obliged to highlight the Marlins briefly. The club won 4-0 over the Orioles on Tuesday night as they returned from a nine-day break due to a team-wide coronavirus outbreak. The makeshift club featuring a handful of replacements put together a solid victory to improve to 3-1 on the season. Bravo.
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