This Week in Purple: The Kids are Starting to Play!

We are nearing the end of May and the Rockies have really turned a corner. After going a franchise-worst 9-20 in April, they have gone 10-6 in May. Their .625 winning percentage ranks second in MLB behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. As of yesterday, Rockies hitters were slashing .269/333/.435 in May — the sixth-highest average in MLB. They have also committed just six errors in 17 games since April 29, tied for the third-fewest in the majors. That, again, comes after committing an MLB-worst 20 errors in 27 games to start the season in April. Bud Black is also just four wins away from passing Don Baylor for the second-winningest manager in Rockies history (so far).

Brenton Doyle in particular has been a shining star on this team. In his last five games, he has gone 6-for-18 with six runs, one double, one triple, three home runs and six RBI. Despite only playing 20 games, his four home runs are tied for fifth-most among NL rookies and his six stolen bases are tied for fifth-most among all rookies. He’s also the only Rockie in franchise history to record four homers and six stolen bases through his first 18 career games.

Here’s what our writers have to say about the state of the team this week!

To Read

• The other big news of the week was the call-up of Riley Pint. In his Monday Rockpile, Kenneth Weber profiled Pint’s journey to the majors starting from his fourth-overall selection in the 2016 MLB Draft, lost 2020 season, retirement in June 2021, and eventual call-up (and debut on May 17).

• Brenton Doyle might be the phenom in center field, but Renee Dechert did a deep dive into the entire Rockies’ outfield. Unfortunately, the defense is not good. The offense is also not great. While things are early, the returns are... not promising.

• On Wednesday, Skyler Timmins looked down on the farm at infield prospect Coco Montes, who has been tearing it up in Triple-A. The Rox have finally started calling up and relying on younger players, could Montes be next?

• Yesterday, the Rockies officially called up Karl Kauffmann to replace the injured Germán Márquez, who was moved to the 60-day IL following Tommy John surgery. Unfortunately, it also came at the expense of Riley Pint. On Thursday, Evan Lang profiled the 2019 competitive balance pick and his journey to the majors.

• Finally, on Friday, Joelle Milholm also dug into some stats and streaks. As of her writing, the Rockies have not hit a grand slam in 225 games. She looks at the reasons why — namely that they are hitting numerous sac flies, which is fine, but they need more rallies to break the longest slam-less streak in the majors!

To Listen

There are no new episodes of Affected by Altitude or Every Rockie Ever this week! Stay tuned for next time!

Weekend Discussion Topic

Who should be promoted next? Coco Montes? Nolan Jones (and actually play this time)? Or perhaps someone else, such as Aaron Schunk? Let us know in the comments below!

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