Colorado Rockies Summer Check Up

Colorado Rockies

32-30 (2nd in NL West)



Eye Popping Number

80

The Rockies are known for great offenses. Coors Field is a haven for hitters. You would think that a line up with Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon in Denver, Colorado would be one of the best offenses in baseball, but it is exactly this worst so far this season. Weighted Runs Created Plus measures how good a team or player is at creating runs adjusted for if they play in a hitters park or pitchers park, with 100 being average. The Rockies are ranked last in baseball with a wRC+ of 80. Currently on the roster, Arenado, Blackmon, and Trevor Story are the only bats that are at least average this season. This would be in the biggest surprise section, but they finished 8th worst last season in the MLB and didn’t make any changes to their lineup and it’s only gotten worse.

Biggest Surprise

After signing Wade Davis and Bryan Shaw, and resigning Jake McGee in the offseason, the Rockies were expecting to have a pretty good bullpen coming into the season. While Davis has pitched well, Shaw and McGee have not, and the biggest bullpen weapon has come in the form of Adam Ottavino and his unhittable slider. Ottavino has been with the Rockies for the last 7 seasons, and his career has been pretty up and down, grading out to above average, but this season he has been elite. He’s currently the 6th most valuable relief pitcher in baseball even though he only has 1 save. He currently has a 0.95 ERA and a 45.5% strikeout percentage. Much better numbers than his career 3.74 ERA and 25.8% strikeout percentage. Unfortunately he’s on the DL right now with an oblique strain, and there’s no timetable on when he’ll return.

Player to Watch

Always watch Nolan Arenado whenever you get the chance. Arenado, in my opinion, isn’t talked about enough when it comes to the premier players in the game today. With Manny Machado playing shortstop now, Arenado is the best defensive third baseman right now. Oh and he can hit a little too. Last season, he was 3 home runs shy of finishing with 40 home runs and 130 RBIs three seasons in a row. He’s continuing to rake this year with a .325 batting average, 12 home runs and 36 RBIs.

What to Watch for at the Deadline


The Rockies need bats, it doesn’t matter where they play. Even if they grab a third baseman, they could move whoever they trade for to first or the outfield. They could target the Detroit Tigers for Nicholas Castellanos and Leonys Martin. The Tampa Bay Rays have Daniel Robertson, CJ Cron, Wilson Ramos and Mallex Smith. The ideal scenario that I would LOVE to see is getting both Scooter Gennett and Billy Hamilton from the Cincinnati Reds. Hamilton would be ideal for Coors’ giant center field, and Gennett has an offensive resurgence this season. Basically if the Rockies can find a team hosting a fire sale, getting multiple pieces would be ideal to get them to the postseason.

*All stats as of 6/7 via fangraphs.com and baseball-reference.com

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