The Colorado Rockies are hot at the right time, which could save them from franchise history (plus Pebble Report)

After taking the upper hand in a three-game series on the road against the Miami Marlins, the Colorado Rockies are playing some of their best ball of the season post All-Star break. Before splitting a two-game set in the middle of last week against their natural rival Houston Astros, Colorado took two-of-three from the vaunted New York Yankees, capping off the series with a dramatic walk-off home run by Alan Trejo.

That put the team on the path we stand today, having won five of their last eight games and slowly crawling towards respectability despite a 39-60 record. It gets better when you consider the team’s next three match ups to conclude July are against the Washington Nationals, Oakland A’s and San Diego Padres – all sub-.500 teams at the time of this writing.

They can’t be expected to go 9-and-0 over that stretch…although it’d surely be a welcomed outcome. But they do need to keep stringing together victories and enter August on a high note if they want to avoid 2023 producing the worst single-season record in franchise history.

The team is currently on pace for a 64-98 finish, which would tie the 2012 club for most losses in a year. They have an opportunity to get some distance from that projected outcome if they can beat-up on weaker opponents in Washington and Oakland, and that distance gained could prove useful because after they face-off with San Diego they will only have two series against teams with a losing record in August. One of them is the St. Louis Cardinals – who have won seven of their last ten and seem to finally be on the rise – and the other the Chicago White Sox.

Not only are they staring down facing winning teams all month, but likely contenders for the World Series at that. Four games against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second week of the month before a nine-game string in nine days against the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves.

September does not appear to be doing any more favors, as just the Padres and Chicago Cubs are teams on the docket that currently have a losing record.

Maybe the Rockies will start to finally generate some momentum in July and carry it over into the final two months of the season. If so, they can play the “spoiler” role effectively - a classification all too familiar for this time of year.

But the starting rotation is depleted and the bullpen has largely carried the load all season. That is a recipe for disaster as the season draws towards its conclusion. To avoid making franchise history, the team needs to manage 26 wins in its final 63 games – 43% of their remaining schedule.

It’s certainly doable, but they’ll have their work cut out for them in the months ahead. The more they can chip away at that goal over the next ten days, the more likely they are to avoid going down on the wrong side of franchise history.

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Yankees, Rockies Reportedly Linked In Trade Deadline Swap Involving Slugging Outfielder | Fan Nation

Mark Feinsand of mlb.com reports that the Yankees are evaluating the outfield market. Rockies’ OF Randal Grichuk is mentioned as a possible target for New York.

Rockies strike out 16 times, miss chance for rare sweep at Miami | The Denver Post

After taking the first two games in their road series with the Miami Marlins, the Rockies fell short of a sweep on Sunday even after Grichuk tied the game in the ninth inning with a home run. The team struck out 16 times in the loss.

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The Colorado Rockies farm system had a tough week overall, failing to win a series with only Low-A Fresno splitting against Modesto (SEA). The Hartford Yard Goats dropped four games in their series, but the offense certainly gave the team a chance with 28 runs scored. The team clubbed 14 home runs in the series, including three from Warming Bernabel (No. 7 PuRP) who had not homered since May 21st.

Top 30 PuRPs

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (2-4, 40-56 overall)

Jimmy Herron led the offensive charge in Sugar Land (HOU) for the Isotopes with eight hits and two home runs, producing a 1.242 OPS in the series. Aaron Schunk (HM PuRP) also produced a fine week with six hits and a .316/.364/.421 slash-line. On the mound, Chris Flexen delivered two strong starts, amassing 9 ¹⁄₃ IP with just one run allowed and 11 strikeouts.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (2-4, 38-49 overall)

The Hartford home run parade was spearheaded by Hunter Goodman (No. 19 PuRP) who cracked four dingers against the Patriots. Jordan Beck (No. 9 PuRP) matched Bernabel with three homers while also tallying three doubles and a triple. Case Williams (No. 26 PuRP) delivered a fine start with one run allowed over 6 ²⁄₃ innings, striking out five without issuing a walk.

High-A: Spokane Indians (2-4, 44-45 overall)

Benny Montgomery (No. 5 PuRP) continued his hot-hitting at home against Vancouver (TOR), tying Nic Kent for the team-lead with nine hits. Montgomery is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak and has a .931 OPS in July. Brendan Rodgers tallied two hits in five games as he works back from a shoulder injury suffered in Spring Training while Tyler Kinley got back on the hill in his first rehab appearances of the season, registering four strikeouts and no walks in two appearances.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (3-3, 54-35 overall)

Jake Snider, Jean Perez and Skyler Messinger each went deep against Modesto (SEA), with all three also collecting another extra-base hit for good measure. Snider’s six hits matched Dyan Jorge’s (No. 16 PuRP) weekly total, with Jorge going for extra-bases in half of those hits. The Grizzlies’ rotation was stellar, but the start of the week belonged to Gabriel Barbosa who went six innings with just one run allowed.

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Upcoming Schedule

Triple-A Albuquerque: 7/25 - 7/30 vs Sacramento (SF)

Double-A Hartford: 7/25 - 7/30 @ New Hampshire (TOR)

High-A Spokane: 7/25 - 7/30 @ Eugene (SEA)

Low-A Fresno: 7/25 - 7/30 @ Inland Empire (LAA)

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