Colorado Rockies with a little good, lots of bad, and plenty of ugly in series loss to Snakes

The Colorado Rockies entered the week having not yet won a game on the road and exited it with a pair of wins.

The rest of the time, they continued to look overmatched and outclassed while playing away from their friendly confines.

A young and inexperienced team continued to look young and inexperienced and other than a few standout individual performances, just about every element of the team was bad over a four-game series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

What Went Wrong?

The defense was terrible.

Colorado committed seven errors in the series including four in the second game of the contest.

Most of the errors were charged to infielders who are actually stupendous defenders most of the time. But some iffy throws and no help at all out of first baseman C.J. Cron led to a set where Colorado looked like a team that can’t pick up the ball and throw it to first.

The hitting with runners in scoring position was dreadful.

The first and last games of the series were easily winnable if the Rockies could have just found there way into a few hits with runners on base. Their LOB (left on base) was in the double digits in each game, even the one where they scored 14 runs and won.

Charlie Blackmon looked better than he has so far this season but still didn’t break out in any kind of big way and the rest of the offense just can’t seem to all start clicking at the same time.

The starting pitching was absolutely terrible but it was far from great as only Austin Gomber managed to pitch at least five complete innings.

Antonio Senzatela, Jon Gray, and Chi Chi Gonzalez all ran into some bad luck but also threw some poor pitches in key moments that ran them from games they might’ve otherwise gotten quality starts from.

That leaves the bullpen which was, you guessed it, also not good.

A late surge left the Rockies in a position to win the fourth game and split the series but their best reliever (at least in terms of resume and stuff) continues to have a nightmare season.

Daniel Bard was only able to record two outs while allowing four runs and leaving Rockies fans, and possibly manager Bud Black, wondering what to do about the closer role.

What Went Well?

Justin Lawrence made his debut out of the bullpen after a long an arduous journey to MLB. And he looks spectacular.

Always lauded for his stuff, it was still jarring to see a Rockies pitcher touching triple digits with regularity and ease.

His first big league strikeout came against Eduardo Escobar on a 101 mph running fastball that darted out of the zone away from the left-handed hitting pitcher.

In his second appearance, he struck out the side, showcasing his good slider alongside the wicked fastball. He allowed two hits and walked one batter over the two innings he pitched, leaving fans desperately ready for more.

Raimel Tapia collected eight hits in the series and is batting .320 on the season.

He was especially good in the final game, tossing out three key hits, spurring the late rally, stealing two bases, and making a phenomenal diving catch in left. He is striking out just under 12 percent of the time.

Ryan McMahon and Dom Nunez had quietly good series’ with the bat and remain the Rockies leaders in OPS+ thanks to their power stroke. 

Nunez provided the punctuation mark on the win with a grand slam, his fifth home run of the season.

Austin Gomber bounced back nicely after his second rough outing of the year. His final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.

And Westminster’s own Lucas Gilbreath made his MLB debut, pitching one inning and surrendering a homer on the first pitch he threw before settling down and securing three outs.

Trevor Story hit two homers in the set, reminding us again that he loves playing in the desert.

What To Watch For?

Colorado is back to Denver for a three-game series against the Giants before heading back out on the road to St. Louis.

It’ll be fascinating to see if there is any change in dynamic, having played San Francisco twice on the road in the most opposite environment to their own that exists. Now, the young hitters have a chance to see if they can hang with the suddenly competitive Giants in confines that are a bit friendlier to them.

The exceptional ERAs of the Giants pitching staff will be put to the test.

German Marquez looks to wash the bad taste of his last start out of his mouth on Monday night against Aaron Sanchez.

Alex Wood, who dominated Colorado last time out will take the ball in the second game. The Rockies have not yet announced their starter. After placing Antonio Senzatela on the 10-day IL, they will need a spot start. Look for either Jhoulys Chacin or perhaps a younger player like Antonio Santos or Ryan Rolison to be called up.

Logan Webb vs. Jon Gray in the Wednesday contest.

Of course we will have our eyes glued to the screen any time Justin Lawrence’s name is called. He’s must-watch TV at this point.

We will also keep watching the entire Tapia experience. He’s gotten himself into the Top 10 in the NL in batting average and always seems to have that title lurking in his mind.

It’s also starting to get to the point of the season when veterans on one-year deals (or the last year of their deals) are building value toward potential trades.

We are specifically focusing in on Mychal Givens and C.J. Cron as players who have shown they’ve got plenty to offer competing teams but are unlikely to be around for the future of the Rockies.

The better they perform for the next month or so, the more the Rockies can get for them in a trade.