The weekend is a great time to kick back and reflect. This Week in Purple is the place to catch up on the news from our team at Purple Row. You’ll find links to Rockpiles and other content below as well as a platform for community discussion in the comments.
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It was a bit of a light week both on Purple Row and for the Rockies, who lost four in a row to start July after beating the Detroit Tigers 8-5 on June 30th.
Prior to Friday’s victory against the San Francisco Giants, they had lost 10-straight road games dating back to June 14, which was tied for the second-longest road losing streak in franchise history (the longest streak was 13 from May 10-June 2, 2008). During that time, they had been outscored 74-33 while slashing just .222/.294/.395 and their starters posted an 11.14 ERA with only three starts of 5+ innings. Luckily, they snapped that with a 5-2 victory over the Giants!
But in the midst of all that there was one bright spot — Elias Díaz was named a first-time National League All-Star. He is also the first catcher to represent the Rockies in the Midsummer Classic. Díaz has played in 78 games this season, slashing .278/.330/.440 with 15 doubles, one triple, and nine homers. According to FanGraphs, his nine home runs are tied for second among catchers in the NL; the 15 doubles rank second; his 45 RBI leads the pack, as does his 15 catcher caught-stealing (tied with Gabriel Moreno from the Arizona Diamondbacks). Not too shabby!
Congrats, Elias!
Congratulations to Elías Díaz for making the National League All-Star team! pic.twitter.com/dLvsH8n0lj
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) July 3, 2023
In the meantime, here’s what our writers were up to this week!
To Read
- For the Monday Rockpile, Renee Dechert wrote about Peter Lambert’s place in the Rockies pitching staff. Lambert was the Rockies’ second-round draft pick in 2015 and debuted spectacularly on June 6, 2019 against the Chicago Cubs. Since then, it’s been an up-and-down road for Lambert that included Tommy John surgery and a lost 2020 season (both due to TJS and COVID-19). Since his return, Lambert has filled in a lot in the bullpen as a long reliever but it looks like the Rox might put him back in the starting rotation. Renee asked him about his new role and how he sees himself going forward.
Peter Lambert feeling at home in the Rockies bullpen (but not for long) https://t.co/77KF8Rtg5u
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) July 3, 2023
- For the Tuesday Rockpile, Kenneth Weber wrote about newly-minted All-Star Elias Díaz and how he stacks up against other catchers in Rockies’ history. Namely, Kenneth compares him against Chris Iannetta, Jeff Reed, Miguel Olivo and Tony Wolters. Currently, among the crowd, Díaz ranks third according to bWAR. Can he cement himself as a Top-5 Rockies catcher of all-time?
Elias Díaz is the first All-Star Rockies catcher, and may be on track to be the best backstop in team history.
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) July 4, 2023
Plus, Yanquiel Fernandez gets named to the Future’s Game in the latest edition of the Pebble Report. https://t.co/AfDizfNinI
- With the MLB Draft coming up this weekend, Skyler Timmins took a look back at Rockies’ first-round picks dating all the way back to 1992 for his Wednesday Rockpile. The first round is certainly important, but Skyler points out that baseball relies on more “potential” than other sports since players often spend more time in the minors before making their major league debuts. Do you remember all the Rockies’ first rounders?
With the 2023 MLB Draft coming up, let’s take a look back on the #Rockies' three decades of first-round picks. https://t.co/pSfWwEalN7
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) July 5, 2023
- Speaking of minor leaguers, for his Thursday Rockpile, Evan Lang once again spotlighted some pitching prospects who might be able to reinforce the Rockies’ currently-depleted staff. He looked specifically at the recently-promoted Michael Petersen, Evan Justice and Dugan Darnell. Could one of them make their MLB debut soon?
It’s been a tough season for pitching, but reinforcements are on the way! With a fresh round of promotions, it’s time to meet the three exciting #Rockies pitching prospects that have joined the @ABQTopes! https://t.co/5ATJUZ1Lje
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) July 6, 2023
- Finally, for her Friday Rockpile, Joelle Milholm looked at the Rockies’ home-run problems. The Rockies are often associated both with hitting a lot of homers and with allowing a lot of homers to the opposition. Unfortunately, this year they are allowing many more homers than they are hitting. Joelle looks back on the Rockies’ 30-year history of home runs — both hit and allowed — to see how this team stacks up (spoiler alert: it’s not great).
If a team gives lots of HRs, then they have to hit a bunch to make up for it. If they don’t give up HRs, they may not have to hit as many. But the Rockies are facing a serious problem in handing HRs out freely to other teams, while not hitting their own. https://t.co/CVykeRBuNW
— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) July 7, 2023
To Listen
- Evan and Skyler took the week off this week. There will be a new episode of Affected by Altitude coming soon! In the meantime, listen to some of our previous episodes!
Weekend Discussion Topic
Who is the most memorable Rockies first-round pick? Who is the most infamous? Sound off below!
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