by Jordan Long
The MLB All-Star Game is tonight in San Diego. It marks the unofficial halfway point of the season. The Colorado Rockies are at 40-48, 16 games back of the San Francisco Giants in the National League West. They are 7 games behind the Miami Marlines and New York Mets who are tied for the second Wild Card spot. Let’s take a look at the Rockies season to this point.
The Colorado Rockies were 11-12 at the end of April. That wasn’t a bad record and even tied for the lead in the division. They were staying in games with their starting pitching and offense. In May, they went 13-15 which is where they started to slide in the standings. The Giants then had a 7.5 game lead over the Rockies. The Rockies only hope was to keep pace in the Wild Card race where they were 5 games back of Pittsburgh, who was leading the second Wild Card spot at the time. In order to keep pace in the Wild Card hunt, the Rockies needed to have a winning June. It didn’t happen. The Rockies won 13 games and lost 14 games. July hasn’t been too kind to them going 3-7 into the All-Star break.
Before the season started, I knew this team could hit. The offense would keep them in games. That has not been their problem. The Rockies are hitting .273 as a team, ranking 3rd in Major League Baseball. DJ LeMahieu is leading the team with a .334 batting average, third in Major League Baseball. Nolan Arenado is doing it with the long ball with 23 home runs, which is tied for 4th.
The Rockies problem has always been pitching. I was hoping it was going to be improved. To me that has always been the difficulty with the Rockies in past years. They never can seem to get their pitching going. Unfortunately, it has been the same story. The Rockies as a team are 29th in the league with a team ERA (earned run average) of 5.08. The Cincinnati Reds are worse with a 5.46 ERA.
The starting pitching for the Rockies has not been where it needs to be. Their total ERA is 5.07, way too high. With those numbers, the starting pitchers don’t last that many innings which forces the bullpen to keep the Rockies in games. The bullpen has been poor with a total of a 5.09 ERA. The Rockies can’t trust starting pitching or the bullpen, at least in the first half of the season.
The Rockies will resume the second half of the season on Saturday in Atlanta. Offensively, the Rockies are doing well. They don’t need to change that heading into the second half. The Rockies, though, need to have better pitching in the second half. Starters must go 6 or 7 innings. They can give up some runs but they have to keep the Rockies in games. If they don’t, that will force the bullpen to be overworked. If the Rockies have a lead in the later innings, the bullpen can’t blow it. This is the only way the Rockies will get back in the hunt for a Wild Card spot.
Where do the Rockies need to improve in order to make the playoffs?
Leave a Reply