Rockies fans are showing they’re tired of watching bad baseball (plus Pebble Report)

The Colorado Rockies mercifully snapped a seven-game losing streak at Coors Field with a win on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. That was their only victory in the series against the Snakes, however, and the team’s lone series victory of the season was accomplished on the road in Cleveland.

It’s not a big stretch to assume that a team with an 8-20 record has not been great at home. But the degree to which the Rockies have underperformed at home – contrary to their typical dichotomy of performance at Coors versus away from it – has been eye-catching to say the least.

Generally speaking, the Rockies performed worse than ever at home in their first month of the 2023 season. A breakout 12-4 win on Sunday (their first time cracking double-digits in 51 games) bolstered their offensive numbers, but the overall performance from the lineup at friendly confines of Coors Field still resulted in an ugly 86 sOPS+ when compared to other team at home in March/April (with average being 100).

It’s not any better on the mound, as the team has been basically 50% worse than average with a 149 sOPS+ at home in the first month of the season, with the opposition owning an .899 OPS against them. Their ERA sits at an unsightly 6.92 with a whopping 140 hits surrendered in 108 innings. The defense hasn’t helped any as the club has allowed 13 unearned runs at home compared to just six on the road – which isn’t surprising when you consider the club finished the weekend leading all of baseball in errors with 21.

All of this is…depressing. Which is the product the organization has tried to encourage people to pay money to watch in person. While the club’s attendance numbers are still respectable relative to the rest of the league – ranking 16th in MLB – the team’s average numbers at Coors Field have been down considerably compared to recent seasons.

Just a quick snapshot tells a story of disinterest. There is still a draw for people to attend a baseball game in Colorado, but clearly there is also unrest baked into the recent numbers.

There are a plethora of ideas that backers of the organization can use to explain the numbers. The weather, school not being out, the quality of opponents, et cetera. But the average attendance for the St. Louis Cardinals three-game series was just 23,914, there hasn’t been a severe spring-snow series like in years past and the recent weekend set against first-place Arizona just barely eclipsed 30k with an average attendance of 30,165.

The simplest answer remains apathy, something that has deeply settled into the fanbase as the team has quickly and convincingly barrelled towards their fifth-straight losing season.

The figures will likely see some increase as the sunny summer days come and bigger draws like the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees roll into town. But the overll product on the field to this point has not been enticing. And if it doesn’t dramatically improve, the organization shouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a dramatic improvement in attendance, either.

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Saunders: 2023 Rockies feel like ’05 Rockies, except Rocktober is not around the corner | The Denver Post ($)

Patrick Saunders started his coverage of the Rockies in the 2005 season, a dismal campaign they started 6-21 and finished 67-95. This iteration of the team reminds Saunders of the same pains of the ‘05 club, but likely without the same promising future on the horizon.

It’s all coming together for Rockies’ No. 8 prospect | mlb.com

Thomas Harding highlights 2022 draftee Sterlin Thompson, who is off to a scorching start with the Spokane Indians.

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Pebble Report: April 24-30, 2023

The big story from the Colorado Rockies farm system this week was Brenton Doyle (No. 17 PuRP) making his major league debut. He didn’t light the world on fire in his first week, but he did provide a bright flash of his potential in his second big-league game with a 3-for-4 performance, including a double and two stolen bases against the Cleveland Guardians.

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (1-5, 12-15 overall)

It was a tough week for the Isotopes against Round Rock (TEX). Antonio Senzatela made two rehab starts, allowing one run on five hits in 3 ¹⁄₃ IP in an encouraging first outing before getting roughed-up for nine runs (six earned) in three innings with eight hits allowed. A more encouraging series performance came from Jeff Criswell, who allowed just one run in two appearances (one start) while striking out seven to just three walks. Additionally, Riley Pint (HM PuRP) extended his scoreless-streak to seven games with three shutout innings in two appearances.

At the plate, Elehuris Montero provided a friendly reminder that his bat has advanced beyond the minor league levels with four home runs and a .346/.379/808 slash line in 26 AB.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (4-1, 11-8 overall)

Bladimir Restituyo continues to make the jump to Double-A look easy, torching New Hampshire (TOR) for eight hits — three for extra-bases — in five games to extend his season slash line to .314/.324/.543. Brett Boswell collected two extra-base hits of his own while Nico Decolati posted a 1.298 OPS off the bench.

The Yard Goats dominant series against the River Cats was largely supported by their pitching staff. Chris McMahon (No. 15 PuRP) and Case Williams (No. 26 PuRP) each delivered five scoreless innings in their starts, although Williams did have to work around an eye-catching seven walks. But the main story on the mound was once again Andrew Quezada, who also threw five shutout innings, but with a smooth final K/BB of 7/1. Quezada finished the first month of the season with a 1.20 ERA in four games.

High-A: Spokane Indians (3-3, 9-9 overall)

Adael Amador (No. 3 PuRP) returned to action with a bang after suffering an injury during Spring Training. Although his High-A debut happened at the end of last week, Amador’s first full-week was a prime display of his talent with two doubles, two home runs and three stolen bases in six games.

After a tough start to the season, Jordan Beck (No. 9 PuRP) finally broke-through with an 8-for-21 performance that included, three home runs, two doubles and eight RBI. On the mound, the bad was Gabriel Hughes (No. 8 PuRP) who struggled in his start with four walks and seven runs allowed in four innings while Victor Juarez (No. 22 PuRP) provided the good with five one-run innings in his start, striking seven to just one walk.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (3-3, 11-10 overall)

The Fresno offense was less than ideal against San Jose (SF). Ryan Ritter (HM PuRP) did two more bombs to his season-total, but was just one of five hitters to produce an average above .200 in the series.

Luckily, the pitching staff picked up the slack. Blake Adams continued his dominant first month with six shutout innings, allowing just three hits while avoiding the walk and striking out six. Michael Prosecky struck out seven over six innings while allowing just one run, a touch better than Caleb Franzen who also pitched six innings of one-run ball.

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Upcoming Schedule

Triple-A Albuquerque: 5/2-5/7 vs Sugar Land (HOU)

Double-A Hartford: 5/2-5/7 vs Reading (PHI)

High-A Spokane: 5/2-5/7 @ Eugene (SF)

Low-A Fresno: 5/2-5/7 @ Stockton (OAK)

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