Miguel Cabrera getting his 3,000 hit against the Rockies is fitting

After a postponement of Friday’s game, Miguel Cabrera hast two games on Saturday to collect one knock and enter the 3,000 hit club. History could have been made two nights ago against the New York Yankees, but a controversial intentional walk was called by manager Aaron Boone in Cabrera’s last plate appearance. So the next opportunity waits for Antonio Senzatela and the Colorado Rockies instead, who haven’t faced off against the future Hall of Fame hitter since 2017.

That Cabrera is on the doorstep such an illustrious club is a testament to how fantastic of a career he has put together. But the fact that he can do it against the Rockies is poetic. Despite a disproportionate number of his career games coming against Colorado – only eight teams have faced Cabrera less – it’s safe to say Miggy has owned the Rockies more than any other team in the league.

To start, let’s get some of the initial numbers out of the way. Heading into Saturday, Miguel Cabrera has faced off against the Rockies in 44 games over 20 seasons. In 190 plate-appearances, his on-base percentage, slugging percentage and wRC+ against Colorado are all the highest totals against any team Cabrera has opposed. The only teams in the neighborhood with Colorado in those categories and to hold a higher batting average against are the Miami Marlins and Detroit Tigers, who are much more familiar with Cabrera in their lineup and combine for only 12 total games against him.

On the surface, Cabrera has clearly enjoyed considerable success against Colorado. But the more you dig, the more you realize just how much Cabrera has dominated the Rockies more than any other team. His wOBA against Colorado is over one hundred points higher than his career mark, his propensity for going deep when hitting the ball in the air is better against Colorado than any other team and his command of the strike zone is so superb that he actually has more career walks than strikeouts against the Rockies.

That sentiment applies to Miggy no matter where he plays against the Rockies. Admittedly, his numbers in 87 career plate-appearances at Coors Field are a little more gaudy, but his body of work when hosting Colorado isn’t too shabby either. At his home park, he still sports an OPS well north of one, has balanced his strikeouts-to-walks and even goes deep on balls in the air with more frequency.

The clear caveat in this whole narrative is the time in his career when Cabrera inflicted most of this damage. Every year from 2003 to 2009, Cabrera squared off against Colorado for one or two three-game series a year. Since the turn of the decade, the matchups have become much less frequent with this marking just the fifth series between the Tigers and Rockies in the last dozen years.

So, yeah, over 75% of all his matchups came during Miggy’s age 20 through 26 seasons. But Colorado also matched up against Miggy in just one series during his back-to-back MVP seasons in 2012 and 2013 and had just one other series during his peak four-year stretch from 2010 to 2013.

The player Cabrera is now is certainly a diminished version to the player he was in his prime. But that prime was more extraordinary than most any hitters we’ll get to watch in our lifetimes. That incredible hitter was never on display more than when he faced Colorado. And after such a prolific career, if we see 3,000 come against the Rockies it will be at least a little fitting and worth celebrating no matter where your allegiances lay.

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Rodgers determined to shake early skid at the plate | mlb.com

Although the Rockies are off to a strong start with an 8-4 record, it’s no secret Brendan Rodgers has struggled so far in 2022. Rodgers knows what it’s like when things are going well, and is so in-sync that he feels like he can hit anything. But when times are tough, it’s like beginning every at-bat with two strikes. That’s where Rodgers is at now, but in his recent interview with Thomas Harding he express confidence that a turnaround is coming.

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On the Farm

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 10, Round Rock Express 7

Ryan Feltner was spectacular in his fourth start of the season, earning the win in Albuquerque’s first victory of the series against Round Rock. Feltner struck out seven of the first eight Express hitters in the ballgame and ten total in the ballgame. After running into trouble in the fifth, Feltner allowed his lone run allowed and exited with a 6-1 lead thanks to four long-balls hit by Isotopes hitters in the first three innings. Round Rock would push back with four runs in the sixth inning to close the gap, but Wynton Bernard second homer of the game in the eighth and an RBI triple in the ninth put the game out of reach. Bernard finished the night 3-for-4 with two runs score and five driven in.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 7, Somerset Patriots 6

Hartford rallied late to pull off a walk-off winner for their seventh victory of the season. After leading 2-1 through the first four innings, Somerset put up five runs between the fifth and eighth innings to take a 6-4 leading heading into the ninth inning. A walk by Jameson Hannah and hit-by-pitch from Kyle Datres brought Ezequiel Tovar up as the winning run with two outs. Tovar delivered with his second home run in as many innings, this one a three-run shot into the Hartford evening to secure the win for the Yard Goats. In total, Tovar finished with three hits, three runs scored and four driven in.

High-A: Spokane Indians 7, Hillsboro Hops 3

Spokane struck late to lock up their sixth win of the season. Will Ethridge delivered a great start on the mound, allowing three runs over seven innings with five strikeouts and one walk issued. But entering the bottom of the seventh, the Indians trailed by a score of 3-1. The first five Spokane hitters would reach to start the inning and Hillsboro committed two costly errors, leading to five runs and a 7-2 score that would become the eventual final. Zac Veen continued his hot stretch, collecting three hits and three runs scored. Grant Lavigne had two hits of his own and Bladimir Restituyo drove in three runs in the win.

Low-A: Lake Elsinore Storm 2, Fresno Grizzlies 0

Fresno was on the wrong side of a pitcher’s duel, tallying the lone loss for the system on Friday. Evan Shawver, a seventh round selection in the 2021 draft, was excellent again in his second start for the Grizzlies. Shawver held the Storm scoreless for six innings, striking out four. Unfortunately, Lake Elsinore pitching proved just as formidable in the game, limiting Fresno hitters to just two hits. An RBI single in the eighth and a throwing error in the ninth plated to the two runs in the game for Lake Elsinore. Fresno hitters did draw eight walks in the game, three coming to Juan Brito, but the club could not capitalize and ending up stranding 14 runners on base.

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