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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The Colorado Rockies finished August by losing nine of their final ten games, and they were outscored 70-41. Particularly in Monday’s 14-4 drubbing, father-to-be Ryan McMahon got the Rockies on the board early with his 22nd home run in the bottom of the first, Hunter Goodman tied the game in the fourth with an RBI double, and Ezequiel Tovar and McMahon went back-to-back re-tie it in the fifth. However, the Rockies bullpen gave up 10 runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings. They gave up 12 total after Austin Gomber left with back tightness with two outs in the third inning.
But September marks the final month of Rockies baseball in 2023 and hopefully there are a few things to look forward to. Here’s what our writers had to say about what’s happening!
To Read
- For the Monday Rockpile, Kenneth Weber recapped the Rockies’ challenging week from August 20-27. In that time frame, they became the first team in the modern era of MLB to lead in the sixth inning or later in six-straight games and lose all six. It was brutal, but Kenneth analyzed what happened to the bullpen and how they ended up becoming a potential Jeopardy! question.
- For the Tuesday Rockpile, Renee Dechert took a look at how the Rockies are running the bases. As of the Tuesday article, they ranked 29th as a team with only 50. She analyzed their skills (or lack thereof) using FanGraphs’ statistic BsR. Currently, they rank last in BsR with -17.9 and the Chicago Cubs rank first with 12.3. As far as individual players go, Nolan Jones, Brenton Doyle, Alan Trejo and Cole Tucker are the only players with a positive BsR (and Tucker only played three games in purple). The Rockies used to be good at baserunning, but it seems to have fallen off in recent years and it needs to come back if they are going to contend anytime soon.
- For the Wednesday Rockpile, Skyler Timmins looked down on the farm again at some up-and-coming prospects worth watching (especially since PuRPs voting has concluded for 2023). He looked at two 40-man hopefuls (Riley Pint and Coco Montes), two non-roster hopefuls (Victor Vodnik and Aaron Schunk), and two far-fetched hopefuls (Adael Amador and Carson Palmquist). Which prospect(s) are you most looking forward to seeing soon?
- For the Thursday Rockpile, Evan Lang took a hypothetical flyer on recently-released RHP Lucas Giolito. Entering Thursday, Gio had been traded to the Los Angeles Angels from the Chicago White Sox ahead of the trade deadline. He pitched six total games for the Angels before being placed on waivers (along with seemingly the rest of the team) and being claimed by the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday. While he might not have been the best fit long-term, it was an interesting look at how he might’ve fit and added a small spark to this wallowing team to finish 2023.
- For the Friday Rockpile, Joelle Milholm outlined nine milestones to watch in the final month of 2023 Rockies baseball. She highlighted four good milestones (the defense of Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle and Nolan Jones, as well as the offense of the “bash brothers” Tovar and Jones). She also pointed out two bad milestones (a record amount of total players on the roster in 2023 as well as an attendance drop). Finally, there were three ugly milestones (the homer divide, a record amount of strikeouts, and the potential for 100 losses). What are some things you are looking forward to (or not) as we finish the season?
- BONUS: PuRPs voting ended on August 11th and Jeff Aberle relayed the list five-at-a-time in the two weeks following. On Monday, he provided an update on the state of the Rockies’ farm system.
To Listen
- Affected by Altitude Episode 76: “We aren’t losing, we’re getting beat” — This week, Skyler and Evan discuss the struggles of the Rockies late in games this past week. Despite some competitive starting pitching and offensive efforts, the Rockies haven’t been able to seal the deal late in the game. “We aren’t losing, we’re getting beat” has been the sentiment from Bud Black, and that sums up the struggles. Additionally, they talk about the mutual interest between Charlie Blackmon and the Rockies for 2024 as well as the promotion of Evan Justice to the bullpen. They round out the show by pinpointing prospects they’d like to see get some action at the end of the season.
- Every Rockie Ever Podcast: In Memory of Alex Cole and Other Late Rockies — In this new episode, Skyler and Dustin honor the memory of original Rockie Alex Cole’s passing this month, as well as other Rockies taken too soon. They remember the careers and impacts of pitchers Joe Kennedy and Darryl Kile, along with position players Angel Echevarria and Mario Encarnacion.
Weekend Discussion Topic
Which of Joelle’s nine milestones will you be watching the closest? Sound off below!
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