Time to sweep.
Once upon a time…
… the Colorado Rockies were good, the last time was in 2017 and 2018. Although, with just 5 playoff appearances since their inception in 1993 and never an NL West title, it is easy to conclude that good times in Colorado are as sparse as the diversity programmes in the United States nowadays. Indeed, just as it becomes increasingly more difficult to see a diversity programme in the United States in the coming years, just as difficult will it be to see a successful Rockies team during Trump’s reign, or after that.
The Rockies have been the laughing stock in the MLB, and in the NL West in particular, due to totally incomprehensible decisions in the front office. In years past they let corner stone players like Trevor Story and Jon Gray walk freely away, with the latter not even receiving a qualifying offer. Colorado paid the Cardinals money to dump their franchise icon Nolan Arenado and hardly got anything in return, and then signed Kris Bryant to a huge amount of money. If that was not enough, they were eager to give home town veteran Charlie Blackmon a huge overpaid extension to signal out his career in Denver. The result is obvious: a disastrous team that almost topped 100 losses in 2022 and went over that threshold in 2023 and 2024. This year they are even heading towards the worst record ever in modern baseball, their 7-36 start of the season is already a record low.
Bud Black recently became the scapegoat, after losing 21-0 to the Padres (!!!), for Dick Monfort’s inability to put a together a healthy baseball organisation in the offices and an inspiring and aspiring team on the field. The Rockies’ start of the season is like an F-35 spearheading full speed towards earth and in a very competitive NL West, it looks like there is nothing that can stop the countdown to the auto-destruction of Colorado in 2025. The only difference between the Rockies and that F-35 is that the latter went undetected.
Despite all that, somehow the fans still manage to pour into Coors Field when the Rockies play at home. They don’t draw the big numbers they had in the 90s and at the turn of the century, but they still beat easily the Diamondbacks when it comes to attendances. You have to feel sorry for all those terrific fans; they definitely deserve a lot better than Monfort is giving them.
Last year the Rockies had two golden glovers on their team in short stop Ezequiel Tovar and center fielder Brenton Doyle. They also had a decent season from Austin Gomber. This year, however, as their record already shows, there is not much to like. Tovar and Doyle are hitting well below average, while the short stop is defensively also much worse than last year when looking at the fielding percentage and errors committed, although injury troubles might have something to do with that: Tovar has been on the IL since mid April. Only left fielder Jordan Beck and catcher Hunter Goodman are hitting over 100 OPS+, while the only starting pitcher with an ERA below 5.00 is Ryan Feltner. Austin Gomber, their best starting pitcher in 2024, is suffering from a shoulder injury and had a setback while rehabbing. He is on the 60-day IL since the start of the season.
The Rockies come to Phoenix after getting swept by the Rangers in Arlington and with some big names on the IL (Kris Bryant, Ezequiel Tovar, Thairo Estrada, Austin Gomber, Ryan Feltner). No matter what the matchup and no matter what excuse we might have, this series is a must-sweep for the Diamondbacks and any other result will be a huge disappointment.
Matchups.
Game #1 Fri 05/16 6:40 PM MST, Corbin Burnes (ARI) vs TBD (COL).
Postgame fireworks.
- Corbin Burnes. 7 GS, 39.2 IP, 2 W-1 L, 2.95 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.31 WHIP, 1.74 K/BB.
- TBD.
With Gomber out since the beginning of the season, prospect Chase Dollander has been part of the rotation since, pretty much, day 1. Freeland, Senzatela (after a long period of injuries) and Márquez are the familiar faces in the rotation, with Ryan Feltner the fifth to complement it. However, he recently hit the injured list, leaving the Rockies without a fifth starter. After announcing Márquez for Saturday’s game, it is not clear who will start for the Rockies on Friday. Previously it was Bradley Blalock who filled out the rotation, but he was optioned to Triple A after the disastrous game against the Padres. There is a chance that the Rockies might call up prospect Carson Palmquist for his debut, who is doing fine in Albuquerque.
The TBD will have to face Corbin Burnes who did great his last time out, shutting out the Dodgers over 7 innings. His task will be much easier against the Rockies lineup.
Game #2 Sat 05/17 5:10 PM MST, Zac Gallen (ARI) vs German Marquez (COL).
- Zac Gallen. 9 GS, 51.0 IP, 3 W-5 L, 4.59 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 1.31 WHIP, 2.35 K/BB.
- German Márquez. 8 GS, 37.0 IP, 1 W-6 L, 8.27 ERA, 4.73 FIP, 1.70 WHIP, 1.54 K/BB.
Before his injury, German Márquez was quite the commodity. Now, it looks like he still needs to find his way although the FIP indicates that better times lie ahead. Márquez’ strongest weapon was always the secondary stuff that induces groundballs, but he isn’t achieving that so far this season. However, he looked like he was on his way back in his last outing, when he kept the Padres limited to 1 run over 7 innings at Coors Field, leading the Rockies to its first victory after 8 straight losses.
After two good shows against the Mets, Gallen struggled a bit more against a loaded Dodgers lineup, which is understandable. Time to bounce back.
Game #3 Sun 05/18 1:10 PM MST, Merrill Kelly (ARI) vs Chase Dollander (COL).
Armed forces weekend.
- Merrill Kelly. 9 GS, 51.0 IP, 4 W-2 L, 3.71 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.06 WHIP, 3.42 K/BB.
- Chase Dollander. 7 GS, 34.0 IP, 2 W-4 L, 6.88 ERA, 6.16 FIP, 1.47 WHIP, 2.00 K/BB.
Chase Dollander was a consensus Top 100 prospect and the best pitching prospect in the Rockies’ organization before he was added to the big league squad. He has been struggling ever since, which isn’t that weird considering he had pitched just 1 full season of minor league ball as a 2023 first round draft pick. Dollander should slide into a mid-rotation role or, if he stays with the Rockies, might just as well become their frontline starter soon. Dollander struggles a bit with command and gives up a lot of barrels (2nd percentile in the majors according to statcast). If you do that with a 97.5 mph fastball at Coors, you can get into a nasty outing like the one he had against Washington, when he gave up 4 homeruns. Last time out, Dollander completed 6 major league innings for the first time in his career and limited the Rangers to 2 runs while striking out 7. He was still tagged with the loss, but it was a minor step into the right direction.
Merrill Kelly outpitched Justin Verlander and gave up just 1 run in 7 innings, striking out 8 while navigating through 8 hits. That gives us all the confidence we need for the mainstay.