Rockies-Cardinals Series Grades: A lack of star performances

Typically, in 2018, if the Colorado Rockies scored 17 runs in three games they’ve been in a good position to win series. It wasn’t enough against the St Louis Cardinals as the Rockies bats woke up in game two but were absent in the big moments of the other two games while the starting pitching struggled.

As we do after each series, using our advanced statistics and our in-house all-encompassing metric DPR, here are our individual grades.

Note: The scores below are each player’s average DPR for the series. All Rockies stats and individual player profiles can be found here.

 Nolan Arenado (82.20 — A-): With five hits and three walks, Arenado had one of the better series for the home team, adding two extra-base hits, getting a homer in game one and a double in game two. He did strike out twice in game one but was solid the rest of the way, getting a hit in each game as well. With a positive WPA in each outing, he certainly wasn’t a reason for the Rocks losing the series.

Charlie Blackmon (91.21 — A+): Appearing in the first two games of the series, Blackmon had an outstanding game one which really carried his grade, as his game two performance wasn’t anything special, resulting in a negative WPA. He started the series off with a two-RBI homer, a single and a walk. He did add an RBI double in game two, scoring a run in the eighth inning where the Rockies kept on piling on. His grade was brought down by two strikeouts.

Trevor Story (34.17 — F): This wasn’t Story’s series, as he only had a single in three games, adding a walk while striking out four times.

DJ LeMahieu (67.37 — B-): DJ’s grade, like just about everyone else, was greatly aided by the eighth inning in which Colorado piled on eight runs, getting two singles in the inning, scoring a run and then bringing one in while adding a walk. In his other start in game three, he put together a double and a single, scoring two runs, though he did strike out once and grounded into a double play. Coming in late in game one he managed a walk in two plate appearances as well.

David Dahl (51.83 — C-): Dahl’s series lacked that big performance but he was steady in the first two games, getting three singles, scoring a run and adding an RBI in that eighth inning in game two. He had a 0-for day in game three and struck out once, which hurt him as he had a negative WPA in each outing.

Ian Desmond (62.42 — C+): Having one of the few productive series in game three really helped Desmond’s grade, as he produced a double and a walk in the final game against the Cards. His game two performance was solid as well with a two-RBI double. Game one was the one that hurt him, though, he did score a run and got himself an RBI on a throwing error.

Carlos Gonzalez (78.43 — B+): The catalyst of the Rockies’ huge eighth inning in game two, CarGo was consistent throughout the series with six hits, three of which were doubles, scoring two runs and getting an RBI in the process. Interestingly enough, his WPA scores were in the negative in games one and three, as he struck out four times. Still a nice series from the veteran outfielder who at least was crucial in Colorado’s one win.

Ryan McMahon (84.80 — A-): The Rockies young infielder was clutch in game one with two singles and a double, getting an RBI late. The rest of his series wasn’t anything special as had a single and a K in game two and didn’t start in the third game going 0-for in his one pinch hit. His game one performance really carried his grade here.

Matt Holliday (74.14 — B): Holliday actually performed better as a pinch-hitter than he did starting in game three, as he put together a hit in each pinch hit including a massive homer in game two that had Coors Field rocking. In his one start, he had a single and scored a run while also striking out once. A valuable contribution.

Chris Iannetta (38.69 — D-): Appearing in the Rockies two losses didn’t help Iannetta who managed to get two walks in four plate appearances but also had a strikeout and grounded into a double play in game three.

Tony Wolters (55.38 — C): Starting in games one and two, Wolters managed a single and a double in the series while adding a walk. His score was brought down by a K and a grounder into a double play as he had two negative WPAs but was a meaningful contributor.

Antonio Senzatela (13.99 — F): Senza had a rough start in game one of the series, allowing 10 hits and seven runs while he conceded two home runs. His FIP of 8.01 was quite telling as his WPA of -.292 hurt him a lot.

German Marquez (95.85 — ⭐): In one of only two star-performance on the series, Marquez was masterful putting up his second highest score of the season. Going seven innings for the fourth start of the month, Marquez only allowed three hits as he blanked the Cardinals, striking out nine while only walking one. His other stats were all off the charts with an 8-to-6 ground ball to fly ball ratio, a 79 game score, a .462 WPA, and a 1.02 FIP. He’s now averaged an 82.23 DPR in the month of August making him one of the hottest starting pitchers in the majors right now.

Tyler Anderson (-45.23 — F): Starting game three and getting lit up for six runs off of seven hits, while only recording two outs really hurt Anderson, in his worst outing of the season. Anderson’s now had three of his four worst starts on the year in August as opponents have taken him yard nine times in five starts in the month. It might be time to panic.

Chad Bettis (77.91 — B+): Tasked with coming in to relieve Anderson, Bettis did an admirable job allowing four hits and as many runs—all which he inherited—while forcing eight groundball outs to only five fly balls for a FIP of 1.96. He also came into game one to record three outs forcing three more grounders.

Jake McGee (89.45 — A): This was another solid outing from McGee, who quietly might have turned a corner as he appeared in the third game, getting the three outs with a strikeout and two ground balls for a FIP of 1.16.

Scott Oberg (87.78 — A): Tasked with pitching two innings in game one, Oberg was solid, striking out three and inducing three groundball outs while only conceding a hit off of 31 pitches. His FIP 0.16 on the outing says it all about how dominant he was.

Seunghwan Oh (96.45 — ⭐): Oh’s been incredibly reliable in Colorado but never quite as dominant as he was in game two of the Cardinals series. He struck out the first two batters and then got a quick fly ball out while he abused the strike zone, throwing only four balls on 15 pitches. It should come as no surprise that he posted his highest DPR since joining the Rockies with an absurd FIP of -0.84.

Adam Ottavino (27.82 — F): Otto had a rough time in game two, coming in right after the Holliday home run to put Colorado up, which didn’t last for long as the typically dominant reliever allowed two hits and a run, while also walking one. To his credit, he did manage to limit the damage with two Ks and his FIP of 2.16 wasn’t awful. However, Ottavino’s standards this year have been much higher than this.

Wade Davis (83.30 — A-): Davis has been a model of consistency in his last five appearances scoring DPRs all in the 80s, conceding two hits in that stretch and zero runs. He was solid in game one inducing a grounder and two fly ball outs to exit a losing effort unscathed.

Chris Rusin (49.30 — D+): Rusin appeared in both games one and three and was far from perfect, walking one in his first outing and then walking another in game three as he got knocked three times for two runs. His FIP for the two outings was a sky-high 6.18 as Rusin’s struggles continued.

Bryan Shaw (72.40 — B): Entering game three with things well out of hand, Shaw was efficient in two innings, allowing two hits and striking out one as he kept the scoresheet clean.