Rockies Start Season On A Sour Note, Lose 3 Out Of 4 Games To Dodgers

By Jordan Long

The Colorado Rockies won their first game of the season on Thursday beating the best, if not the top pitcher in baseball,  Clayton Kershaw.  They beat the Dodgers 8-5.  After that, Colorado dropped 3 straight and were outscored 21-13 in those games.  Colorado needs to play better if they want to be competitive in the National League West.

                The Rockies knew coming into the season, hitting wasn’t going to be a problem.  Their offense has always carried them.  In the early going, Colorado is hitting .222 which is 15^th in baseball.  Colorado is showing the ability to hit the long ball and extra base hits.  The Rockies as a team have smacked 7 doubles, 1 triple, and 6 home runs.  Those are pretty respectable numbers which Colorado must sustain this year to keep them in baseball games.

                The problem with the Rockies’ offense so far is strikeouts. There are times when a batter watches a pitch go by for a strike and doesn’t swing.  Other hitters are being free swingers and try to hit a ball out of the zone which have equaled 33 strikeouts.  The Rockies should have a better eye further into the year.  They are getting used to playing games that matter and big league pitching. 

                Colorado knew pitching was a question mark and needed to keep them in games for them to have a successful season.  Unfortunately, in 4 games it hasn’t yet.  Colorado’s total pitching ERA is 24^th at a 5.75 ERA.  Starting pitchers aren’t doing their job.  They allowed the Dodgers to score early and often.  Their starting pitching ERA is 5.87.  It wasn’t enough to beat the Dodgers.  When manager Bud Black called to his bullpen, they couldn’t stop the bleeding and allowed the Dodgers to score more runs.  The bullpen era is 7.36. All these numbers must go down, but it’s only a sample size of 4 games.

                The Rockies are off to a 1-3 beginning to the season.  They have areas to improve but 4 games into the year is not something to worry about yet.    The Rockies will look to bounce back tomorrow when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks for a 3 game set before going on the road to face the San Francisco Giants on Friday.