When the Rockies finish up their three-game set at Chase Field on Sunday, they’ll have completed their 2021 season, having faced off against 19 of the other 29 teams in baseball. 142 of those games came against the other 14 teams in the National League, with five American League teams making up the remaining 20. Here’s how the Rockies managed against each opponent, listed in the order of Colorado’s winning percentage in the season series.
Record: 5-2
Winning Percentage: .714%
The September series where the Rockies played spoiler for the NL Wild Card chasing Phillies was the main reason for the team’s success against the boys from Philadelphia this year. The standout performance came on Friday, September 10, as the Rockies teed off for 11 runs. The 3-1 series victory followed a two-game set at Coors Field in April where each team grabbed a win.
Record: 4-2
Winning Percentage: .667%
The Braves were one of five opponents against whom the Rockies played six games and won four. Atlanta has by far the best overall record of those five and currently are trying to stave off the Phillies to keep hold of their NL East crown. All six of the Rockies’ matchups against the Braves came in September. The third game of their September 14-16 set was postponed due to rain and could be rescheduled for October 4, the day after the regular season officially ends. If the Braves have clinched the division by then, the game probably won’t be played, leaving the Rockies’ 4-2 mark intact.
Record: 4-2
Winning Percentage: .667%
The second best of these 4-2 teams, the Marlins took a huge step back after last year’s surprise playoff appearance. They’re currently 64-93, and the Rockies took full advantage of their struggles. During a three-game sweep at the beginning of August, the Rockies scored double-digit runs twice and combined for 34 runs over the weekend.
Record: 4-2
Winning Percentage: .667%
With a one-game lead over the Texas Rangers, the Pirates are just a hair ahead of Texas in these rankings. Things started ugly against Pittsburgh for the Rockies this year, as a doubleheader in late May saw the Rockies drop two games without scoring a run (7-0 and 4-0 losses). They battled back to win the Sunday matinee game and then swept the PIrates on the last three days of June with back-to-back shutouts of their own, followed by a 6-2 series finale victory.
Texas Rangers
Record: 4-2
Winning Percentage: .667%
The Rockies took on the Texas Rangers for the second straight year as part of their interleague schedule. They started the month of June with a three-game sweep of the Rangers at Coors Field but followed it up with a pair of losses in Texas to close out August. On September 1, the Rockies finished the season series on a high note with a 9-5 win.
Record: 4-2
Winning Percentage: .667%
Two weeks ago, I wrote about how the Nationals team the Rockies would be facing featured hardly any familiar faces thanks to the organization’s “tear it all down” trade deadline strategy. The Rockies took advantage of this and grabbed four of six from the 2019 World Series champs. The best moment? A 9-8 Friday night victory where the Rockies battled back from an early 6-2 deficit. Or maybe Trevor Story’s performance last night in what may have been his final game at Coors Field.
Record: 11-8
Winning Percentage: .579%
This one feels terrific, doesn’t it Rockies fans? After acquiring nearly every possible pitcher during the offseason, many experts picked the Padres to challenge the Dodgers for National League supremacy this year. It looked good for San Diego in the early going, but a brutal second half has seen them crash out of the playoff picture (and dangerously close to a worse record than the Rockies.) I like to think the Rockies played a big part in their demise.
Record: 9-7
Winning Percentage: .563%
As mentioned, the Rockies’ final series this weekend is against the Diamondbacks, so this matchup remains incomplete, but for now, this one falls into the “above .500” category of opponents. Arizona currently has the worst record in baseball, 50-108, so this has to be considered a disappointing head-to-head for Colorado this year.
Record: 2-2
Winning Percentage: .500%
Of the three teams the Rockies broke even against this year, the Astros are by far the best. Having reached the ALCS in three of the last four seasons and aiming to do so again this year, Houston is the cream of the crop in the majors. The Rockies can’t complain about a 2-2 record against Houston in 2021.
Record: 2-2
Winning Percentage: .500%
Another AL West opponent who the Rockies went toe-to-toe with this season may be the most unexpected playoff contender of the year. The M’s are just a half-game behind the Red Sox for the AL’s second wild-card spot and are looking to snap the longest postseason drought in baseball. The team’s faced off for two sets of two games this year, splitting both.
Record: 3-3
Winning Percentage: .500%
The Cubs were flying through the early part of the season but were sunk by an 11-game losing streak at the end of June (thanks to a 12-game skid in August, this wasn’t even their worst the year.) The Rockies’ offense came alive multiple times against the Cubs, posting 13 runs on two occasions.
Now, we get to the part of the list where things go south for the Rockies.
Record: 3-4
Winning Percentage: .429%
We don’t need to get into this one, do we? Every game was sad because Nolan Arenado was wearing the wrong colors, and now, all our joy at seeing the Cardinals struggle is gone thanks to a 17-game win streak that resulted in them clinching a playoff spot Tuesday night. I guess we’re happy for Nolan at least.
Record: 1-2
Winning Percentage: .333%
Even if the Athletics don’t appear set to make the playoffs, they’re a pretty good team and there’s no shame in dropping two of three to them. Oakland came to Denver and promptly ripped off 9-5 and 6-3 wins to grab the series. The Rockies came back with a respectable 3-1 victory of their own in the Sunday afternoon series finale.
Record: 1-2
Winning Percentage: .333%
Back-to-back AL West opponents got the best of the Rockies in the form of 2-1 series victories. Even if they were dropping games to a Mike Trout-less Angels team, Shohei Ohtani is awesome, and getting to see him face the Rockies was a blast. We saw him at Coors during the Home Run Derby, but boy, would it have been fun if this series took place in Denver instead of Anaheim. The Rockies actually outscored the Angels 21-17 in this series too.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Record: 6-13
Winning Percentage: .316%
This is par for the course when it comes to facing off against the Dodgers, and there’s not much positive that the Rockies can take out of this. Colorado was outscored 102-81 over the 19 games, and the Dodgers will once again be playing October baseball while the Rockies watch from home (even if it’s only one game, fingers crossed). The Dodgers continue to show the Rockies that they have a long way to go to be competitive in the NL West again.
Record: 2-5
Winning Percentage: .286%
The fact of the matter is, the Brewers have done this to just about everyone this year thanks to an insane starting pitching staff and the consistently dominant Josh Hader in the bullpen. The Rockies grabbed a pair of wins to save face, but this was just a tough matchup. The fact that the Crew still have a six-game lead over the Cardinals despite the seventeen-game win streak tells you just how good they’ve been.
Record: 2-5
Winning Percentage: .286%
The Rockies got off to a good start against Cincinnati this season, winning the first two games, but the wheels fell off after that. The Reds won a pair of one-run games to split that series and then swept a three-game set with Colorado by a combined score of 27-10. Ouch
Record: 2-5
Winning Percentage: .286%
With all due respect to the Padres and Angels, The Mets were probably the biggest disappointment in baseball this year. That didn’t stop them from beating up on the Rockies. At least we can take solace in the fact that the Mets may somehow have faced more questions about their ownership over the years than the Rockies. Victory!
Record: 4-15
Winning Percentage: .211%
This one hurts...a lot. Not only were the Giants supposed to be bad this year, but they’ve flipped that on its head to have the best record in baseball. San Francisco scored 125 runs in 19 games against the Rockies. That’s over 6.5 runs per game. The Rockies got less than half managing just 60 runs during the season series. 14.5% of all the Giants’ victories came against the Rockies (15/103). The only good thing here is that maybe the Giants will be the team to snap the Dodgers’ run of NL West titles. I guess that’s a positive.
There you have it! That’s how the Rockies did against every team they faced this year. It looks like the only option is not to play the Giants or Dodgers anymore going forward. Then we’ll be great!
★ ★ ★
6 Duds from 2021 MLB Season That Could be Contenders in 2022 | Bleacher Report
Now, this is the kind of list you want to find yourself in if you’re the Colorado Rockies. I’ll nitpick a little and say I wouldn’t really consider the Rockies “duds” since they were expected to be much worse than they’ve been. Regardless, the fact that a national outlet even considers the Rockies as potential contenders–assuming they can Keep Jon Gray, C.J. Cron, and if they’re lucky, Trevor Story–is still a good sign for this team. I said it in my article last week and it’s nice to have some Bleacher Report support here: a wild card spot for the Rockies in 2022 isn’t totally out of the question. They’ll just need a lot of things to go right.
What are Trevor Story’s top 5 moments? | Rox Pile
Reading this one definitely hurt a bit, but that doesn’t mean it’s not great reminiscing on all the wonderful things Trevor Story has done while wearing purple pinstripes. Everyone’s got a top Trevor Story moment of their own, but it’s hard to argue with any of the picks in this list. Honestly, it’s just impressive he’s had a whole lot of moments that could outdo his insane debut. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll get sad reading this article and then he’ll go ahead and re-sign with the Rockies.
On the farm
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 11, Sacramento River Cats 3
Nothing like an eight-run outburst in the top of the sixth inning to spoil a pitcher’s duel that saw each team held scoreless through the first five innings. Better yet? The Isotopes plated those eight runs without a single long ball. Two innings later, Alan Trejo went yard for a two-run shot, but the game was already all but sealed for Albuquerque at that point. Starter Dereck Rodríguez was stellar, pitching five innings of three-hit baseball and struck out nine before the bullpen took over for the night.
★ ★ ★
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