One series is down, 51 more to go. If the rest are anything like the first, the Rockies will need two things: better pitching and a huge supply of catnip. Seriously though, the cat reportedly escaped and “disappeared into the night.” It’s already gotten away with running on the field so what would stop it from doing it again? Or even bringing more furry friends? That’s a dangerous thought.
Anyways, it was good to have a full weekend of regular season baseball. The Rockies didn’t get the outcomes they wanted but with the new season comes a new identity. So who are the 2021 Colorado Rockies?
Well it’s honestly too early to dig that deep but I’m going to do it anyway. So let’s look at some early stats and overreact, it’ll be fun.
Pitching
The Rockies are known for a lot of things like Coors Field, the purple row (wink, wink), making front office executives do the clubhouse laundry and trading away generational talents. The Rockies have never been known for their pitching. Obviously that comes with playing at elevation but that doesn’t mean the Rockies have to have a historically bad bullpen like last year.
Overall against the Dodgers, the Rockies as a team gave up a total of 47 hits across four games, which is tied with the Oakland Athletics for the most allowed. 16 of those hits came when the Rockies were ahead in the count. In fact, the Dodgers hit .286 when they were ahead in the count. That inability to put hitters away led to the Dodgers .329 batting average and current league high 23 walks. The starters combined for an ERA of 5.87 and the bullpen was at 7.36.
Not pretty at all but everyone was making their first appearance and dealing with jitters. Even the Dodgers’ team ERA swelled up to 5.14. We started to see things settle for both teams Sunday night which was encouraging. Austin Gomber struggled with command but at least he gave up walks instead of home runs (progress?). Chi Chi González kept the Rockies in the game with three no-hit innings. Carlos Estévez was in control and struck two out of three batters and Mychal Givens had a clean inning, all of them settling nicely in their second appearances.
Hitting
On the offensive side of the ball, the Rockies somehow scored 21 runs while the team slashed .222/.276/.422. The home run balls were plenty but the Rockies offense depends on the two starting corner outfielders Charlie Blackmon and Raimel Tapia who are both off to a slow start, hitting 2-for-14 and 3-for-14 respectively.
One guy who hasn’t gotten off to a slow start is Chris Owings. Owings took advantage of getting the Opening Day start and went 3-for-3 with a triple and two stolen bases. He’s scored four runs out of the six total times he’s reached base. Those are the kinds of performances that Bud Black loves and it’ll keep buying Owings regular playing time even when Brendan Rodgers returns.
12 of the 21 runs came against Cy Young winners Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer and David Price which is impressive but if we’re being real, Kershaw and Price aren’t the same pitchers they once were and Bauer had a no-hitter through six innings.
One series in and the Rockies offense is already confusing. It’ll be very interesting to see what offense shows up against Arizona on Tuesday and how the bats translate at sea level against San Francisco on Friday.
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When Ian Desmond Opted Out, His Work Was Just Starting | New York Times
An interesting profile into Ian Desmond the person and how his life has led to his decision to sit out the last two seasons. Desmond himself notes that began speaking more candidly about his own experiences as a biracial man after the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.
Owner of Denver Beer Company launches campaign to buy the Rockies | 9News
Charlie Berger, co-owner of the DBC, has launched a GoFundMe page to raise a billion dollars to buy the Colorado Rockies. As of the writing of this article, the campaign has raise over $3500 dollars. Berger says he hopes to reach a billion dollars by May 1st, if he fails he’s promising to donate the money to local non-profits.
Gomber struggles with control in Rox debut | MLB.com
The much anticipated debut of Austin Gomber did not go as smoothly as he or the Rockies wished but Gomber told reporters on Sunday that he’ll “flush it and move on.”
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