BSN Exclusive: McMahon and Story on picking up teammates during down times

After a promising four-game winning streak from August 14-18 coming mostly against the National League’s worst club, Colorado has been on the road where they’ve lost six of seven, including a four-game sweep courtesy of the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals. 

Sitting at 58-73 on the season, the Rockies have the third-worst record in the Senior Circuit and the eighth-worst in all of the Majors. 

It’s hard to believe they were once a season-high six games over .500 after a three-game series sweep at Arizona on June 18-20. Since then, Colorado is .316 (18-39), the lowest winning percentage in the league and second-lowest in MLB behind only Detroit (.224, 13-45).

It’s been a difficult two months for the Colorado Rockies and no one feels the disappointment more than the players who entered the facility at Salt River Fields in February as visions of a World Series trophy danced in their heads.

Certainly, the final 31 games still count and all involved are competing for pride while others are in the initial stages of battling for a place on the 2020 squad. Unproven rookies like Yonathan Daza and Jesus Tinoco continue to fight for a spot on a roster that won’t be decided for more than seven months.

While All-World veterans like Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story have nothing to fear next season, they do have a legacy on which they aim to build. 

Even with all of this at stake, the incessant losing can take a toll on even the most confident professional athlete. So, players are resigned to pick up one another and refocus their brethren for another game, another inning or even another pitch.

To hear the 24-year-old Ryan McMahon explain it, this exercise in learning how to build a support system could become an experience that benefits the 2020 version of the Rockies. 

“You just identify when the team needs to be picked up,” McMahon said. “I feel like we’re all starting to learn each other a little bit better, because I’m learning when like, maybe Story needs to be picked up. Maybe I need to help Hamp out or (Wolters) or Nolan or Chuck, something like that.”

“I feel like that’s something that can really help the team, is if you can, if guys on the team can identify when another guy’s needing a little pick-me-up, I mean – because all it really is is feeling like your teammates have your back, and that’s a huge thing, honestly. It’s a huge confidence builder. You feel comfortable to feel confident when your boys have your back.”

Given the varying personalities within any clubhouse, it might not be surprising to learn the assistance each player needs often looks different from the support they might be best at providing.

“It’s different for everybody,” McMahon confirmed. “Like Papers (aka Tony Wolters). Papers wants to yell. Papers, you can yell it with him and get him fired up. Other guys, pats on the butt, stuff like that. ‘Hey, keep going, man. You look good up there’ or something like that.” 

Now in his first full-season, McMahon has identified certain teammates as having more of a magic touch in this area, particularly the ones that he’s played beside since he was a teenager in Low A.  The magical 2014 South Atlantic League Championship with the Asheville Tourists built a bond that has easily endured over the past five years and featured ten future major leaguers, six of which played alongside McMahon this season: David Dahl, Raimel Tapia, Pat Valaika, Kyle Freeland, Carlos Estévez, and Antonio Senzatela.

“Tapia, I mean he picks me up all the time, and I try to pick him up as well,” McMahon said of his locker mate and friend. “That’s just how we’ve kind of been. We came up together. It’s a comfortability thing between me and him. That’s how it is for all the guys. They all kind of have their guys who build them up.”

Four-year veteran Trevor Story, who didn’t have nearly as many teammates to travel with frequently through the different levels of the minor leagues, has a large cast of supporters, too.

“There’s a lot of guys. Nolan, Chuck, Desi, Murph,” Story rattled off. “Those are the guys that come to mind first. We’re all really good as a team at doing that, though. Everybody is always locked in on the others guys’ at bats. If you need a pat on the back, we’re pretty good at that as a team.”

To be clear, each man in Colorado’s clubhouse – not to mention the other 29 MLB teams – does not need his teammates in order to get up for game day. They are professionals with their reputation and pride on the line with every pitch delivered. 

“I’m not a huge ‘Rah Rah’ guy and honestly, this team – it’s not a bunch of ‘Rah Rah’ guys. But somebody who brings great energy is obviously Tony Papers. Guys feed off that, man. Daniel Murphy’s been good about it.”

Outside of the individual goals each man carries within, if there’s one reason all of the purple-clad fellas have to play for in 2019, it’s each other.