Rockies-Cardinals Series Grades: Blown leads and little consistency

The Colorado Rockies lost their first series since late June against the San Francisco Giants, as the St. Louis Cardinals proved to be too much in a four-game series that saw Colorado lose three close games, two of which they should’ve probably won.

In a series of disappointments like that, grades are bound to be impacted, as will a larger sample size of four games. 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 can be found here.

Nolan Arenado (81.20 — A-): Arenado had a mixed series with two great games and another couple of quiet outings. He did manage six hits in 19 plate appearances—a .315 average—while walking once, scoring three runs, and having the big grand slam in game one. He did strike out four times while grounding into a double play in game two, his worst performance of the series.

Charlie Blackmon (53.29 — C-): Blackmon had one good showing in game two, which Colorado won, going off for a two-RBI blast. The rest of the series he only managed another hit while walking only one time but striking out four times. His WPA was in the negative in three of the four games as his grade would’ve been much lower if not for game two.

Trevor Story (60.95 — C+): Game two was Story’s best performance as well, with two hits, one of which was a double, scoring a run and adding an RBI. His other games were nothing special as he only had one more hit and a walk in the series while striking out thrice.

Ian Desmond (68.08 — B-): While Desmond didn’t have the highs that Arenado and Blackmon did, he didn’t have their lows either, though his strikeouts continued with three in the series. He was consistent, however, getting on base every game with three singles and five walks, which he turned into three runs.

Carlos Gonzalez (68.46 — B-): Carlos had a big game two with a two-RBI jack, another single, and a walk. CarGo’s OBP on the series was .388 while striking out four times and getting caught stealing once. A solid showing all considered even if only one of his five hits was for extra bases, a trend that hurt most of Colorado’s bats in the series.

DJ Lemahieu (24.63 — F): DJ returned in game four, striking out once with little else to show.

Garrett Hampson (100.99 — ⭐): Hampson continued to hit with two singles, a walk and a stolen base in his one appearance in the series. He did strike out too but was otherwise very good with a .156 WPA to boot.

Gerardo Parra (84.50 — A-): Parra had the most consistent series of any batter in the lineup batting .500 in the series with two doubles and three RBIs. He was huge in game four with three singles, though, sadly it wasn’t enough for Colorado to get the win.

Ryan McMahon (45.05 — D+): McMahon didn’t have a great series, as he only managed a pair of singles and three walks while striking out five times.  It was nice seeing him get three starts but he didn’t have the impact you’d have hoped for.

Tom Murphy (4.28 — F): Getting two starts and a pinch-hit that resulted in a strikeout, Murphy had a pretty horrendous series, as his comically low DPR can attest. In 10 ABs he struck out six times, which is about as bad as it gets. He also had a terrible error in game two, which luckily didn’t cost them the win. After a fine series against the A’s, Murphy really struggled with one of the lowest scores we’ve given to an offensive player this year.

Tony Wolters (97.28 — ⭐): Wolters had a nice game offensively in the final bout against St. Louis, getting on base three times on four ABs. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the bad error he had, which doesn’t count against his DPR.  

Chris Iannetta (31.26 — F): Iannetta’s one game wasn’t anything to write home about with a walk and a strikeout in the Rockies game three loss.   

Jon Gray (79.93 — B+): Gray was awesome, again, as he’s clearly upped his game since being brought back up. In 7.1 innings he allowed four hits, two earned runs, two walks, while striking out five and putting up a 69-percent strike percentage. Gray’s start was essential in the Rockies getting their one win in the series as he keeps delivering consistent performances.

Tyler Anderson (65.94 — B-): Anderson had his worst outing in July and his only non-quality start of the month allowing four in six innings. Conceding only three hits, it was the three walks he allowed that got him in trouble after getting hit with a home run early on.

Up until the bottom of the seventh inning, Anderson was actually rolling, but it’s that final stretch that got him as Scott Oberg was unable to relieve him once Anderson loaded up the bases with three consecutive walks. In an 88 pitch outing, this wasn’t Anderson’s best as he wasn’t up to his usual standards in strike percentage, WPA, FIP, or ground ball-to-fly ball ratio.

Kyle Freeland (51.56 — C-): Freeland’s game three performance wasn’t up to his usual standards either, a trend that’s been going on for his last five starts, where he’s getting pulled earlier in games. His 113 pitches were the most he’s thrown all season while his ground ball to fly ball ratio was outstanding at 15-to-5.

However, in 5.1 innings, he allowed nine hits, three runs and walked three. Since April it’s only the fourth start he’s had with a negative WPA. It’s becoming legitimate to wonder if he’s being overused right now as he’s thrown over 110 pitches in his last two starts, his highest total all year.

Antonio Senzatela (76.97 — B+): The loss in the series that stings the most is game four, but it’s for no fault of Senzatela’s who had a quality start going six innings and allowing just one run. His 5-to-2 K to walk ratio served him well, even if his ground ball to fly ball ratio wasn’t nearly as good, nor was his strike percentage. That said, this was a quality outing by Senza who’s averaging 70.12 DPR since he was asked to start July 3rd, which is extraordinary.

Adam Ottavino(63.58 — B-): Otto’s score is lower than usual as he walked two in two outings, allowed a run, had a 1-to-3 ground ball to fly ball ratio and threw below 60 percent of his pitches for strikes. Getting two scoreless innings is what ultimately mattered, but this is a good example of how hard it is to put up the high DPRs that Ottavino’s produced all year.

Wade Davis (51.45 — C-): Against Oakland, we talked about how consistent Davis was in the two appearances he had, he kept that up in game two of the series with a terrific outing throwing six pitches—alll for strikes—getting a K and the save in the process, shutting the Cards down in the ninth.

It’s the blown save in game four that really hurt his grade here, as he allowed three singles, two of which scored. His ground ball to fly ball ratio was way off in this series, inducing only one grounder to five fly balls. A trend that’s continued for Davis this past month. 

Scott Oberg (66.02 — B-): Oberg had a nice series, despite not being able to help Anderson in the bases loaded scenario we described above, appearing in two games and allowing only one hit. His score would’ve been higher if not for game one where he had a walk and a really low strike percentage. He was much better in his second appearance shutting down the Cardinals. His ERA’s now dropped to 2.81 as he’s become one of the more reliable arms out the pen.

Bryan Shaw (80.96 — A-): Shaw’s one appearance in game three was smooth, allowing one hit but striking out two and having a FIP of -0.84. This is Shaw’s highest DPR since June 20th, a welcome sign.

Seunghwan Oh  (83.53 — A-): Oh appeared in three different games in the series, allowing one hit, while striking out two, and not walking anyone. So far so good for the new reliever who’s brought the stability the Rockies needed in late innings.

Jake McGee (-7.40 — F): McGee didn’t get the loss as Freeland took care of that earlier in game three but his outing in the eighth inning was quite horrendous. Contributing only one out he was hit at will for three runs, allowing a walk, and simply getting lit up in 25 pitches throwing only 56 percent for strikes.

Yency Almonte (69.44 — B-): Almonte entered in game three allowing a hit in 0.2 innings—he’s now allowed a hit in every single outing he’s had since his debut June 21st. He also struck out one and had a nice FIP of 0.13 leading to his high grade.