Rockies-Diamondbacks Series Grades: A team effort to get the ‘W’

The Colorado Rockies just keep winning, beating their division rivals Arizona Diamondbacks two out of three in a big series win.

Surprisingly, there weren’t tons of standouts performances or great outings from the Rocks pitchers, it was a group effort with some big pinch-hit ABs from Raimel Tapia and Tom Murphy.

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 (92.89 — A+): Nolan was on fire in game one, with his highest DPR of the season going 3-for-5 with two jacks and four RBIs. He only contributed two walks and struck out twice in game two the rest of the weekend but that massive game one outing was essential in Colorado pulling off the 11-to-10 win.

Trevor Story (66.31 — B-): Story was very consistent getting a hit in each game and walking three times in the series while adding a stolen base. Like everyone, his game three performance was his worst and he struck out four times in the three games which lowered his score significantly.

Charlie Blackmon (76.40 — B+): Blackmon was incredibly steady in this series, getting a hit in each game though he only had one extra-base hit. He also added two walks in the first two outings and scored three runs in game one. His rating could’ve been even higher if not for three Ks. His DPR has kept on climbing this month, which is a huge boost for the offense.

DJ LeMahieu (34.21 — F): DJ missed the rest of the series due to an oblique strain. He appeared in only two ABs in game one but wasn’t able to do anything.

Ian Desmond (84.39 — A-): Desi had a nice series, getting an extra-base hit in each game, going off for a double, triple and home run. He had a significant impact in the first two games and was the only batter to do damage off of Zack Greinke in game three. With his DPR on the season now at 61.38 he’s really picked it up.

Carlos Gonzalez (62.94 — C+): CarGo was essential in the high-scoring game one, managing two hits with an RBI and a run. He had a nice double in game two as well, though he struck out once. His game three performance wasn’t all that good as he struck out twice and couldn’t get on base at all, but an impactful series none the less.

Garrett Hampson (51.94 — C-): Hampson had a nice debut getting a big RBI double and making a beautiful defensive play early on. He also walked once while striking out another time. His game three start wasn’t nearly as prolific as he had an error and struck out once. All considered he had a solid first big-league series, with his performance in game two proving to be essential in the Rockies coming away with the win.

Gerardo Parra (44.89 — D+): Parra was seeing the ball really well in the first two games getting four walks and scoring twice. His performance in the third game was as bad as anyone, striking out twice and grounding into a double play.

Tom Murphy (50.25 — C-): Murphy had a massive go-ahead homer in game two which really helps his rating. Starting in game three, he struck out twice and had a K on a pinch-hit in game one, but that massive homer was crucial in the Rockies winning the series.

Raimel Tapia (62.31 — C+): Tapia only had three pinch-hit at-bats in the series but his huge grand slam is where he really had an impact. His 0.516 WPA is the highest of anyone this series, in a single game, as he came up clutch in the high-scoring game one battle.

Pat Valaika (36.94 — D-): Valaika came in for DJ in game one and managed to walk once and strike out once. Nothing too noteworthy as his WPA was in the negative.

Chris Iannetta (27.68 — F): For the second series in a row Iannetta gets an F having started game two and coming in late in game one for one AB that he struck out on. His offensive contribution was simply lacking.

Tony Wolters (67.66 — C): Wolters played in game one getting a bases-loaded walk while adding a run.

Note: it’s not reflected in his DPR score but he had two costly errors that resulted in two Diamondbacks runs. That brought his grade down to a C.

Noel Cuevas (31.45 — F): Cuevas’ was one of the few hitters in the lineup in game one to not get a hit. His OBP has now dropped below .300 in July where he only has four hits in 20 ABs.

German Marquez (43.60 — D): Marquez had his worst outing of the month on the mound, going five innings and allowing eight hits for six runs—five earned. His -0.391 WPA was one of the worst of the series.

He did have a terrific offensive outing with two singles and an RBI, for an offensive DPR of 87.51. He’s now hitting an absurd .361 on the year, a full 100 points higher than the .269 batting average that he’s allowing to opposing hitters.

Kyle Freeland (54.51 — C-): Freeland was far from spectacular while grinding out five innings and allowing four runs off of five hits, adding three walks and only striking out three. In only 77 pitches he had a negative WPA in his worst outing per DPR since May 29th.

Antonio Senzatela (62.59 — C+): You wouldn’t think it looking at the final score of each game, but Senzatela actually had the best start of any Rockies pitcher in this series, which isn’t saying much. He was solid in 5.1 innings allowing four runs and striking out six. That simply wasn’t enough to battle Greinke.

Chris Rusin (26.80 — F): Rusin managed to get only one out in two appearances against Arizona while conceding four runs—three earned. The all-star break didn’t seem to have done him any good as he had one of the worst performances from anyone in the purple pinstripes.

Adam Ottavino (73.13 — B): Otto got a save in game one while allowing a run that he inherited in 1.1 innings, he also walked one and had a 1-to-5 ground ball to fly ball ration. He was much better in game two striking out two and forcing a ground ball out.

While he hasn’t been the consistently lights out pitcher he was earlier in the season, he’s still been pretty damn good when he’s on.

Wade Davis (62.97 — C+): Davis wasn’t the cleanest allowing a hit and a walk in game two though he recovered with two Ks and two ground ball outs to get the save. His 68-percent strike percentage and positive WPA helped his score as well.

Jake McGee (70.72 — B): McGee came into game two for a solid outing walking one but striking out another and forcing a ground ball out. His 50-percent strike percentage wasn’t great but he got the job done with a positive WPA.

Bryan Shaw (71.73 — B): Shaw was strong in two outings though he did allow a run in 1.2 innings in game one while striking out four. In game three he came in for an inning walking one but getting out unscathed.

Scott Oberg (44.54 — D): Oberg struggled in game two despite having an incredible defensive play—which DPR doesn’t account for. His outing in game one was fairly solid, though, he did allow a hit, shutting down Arizona with a strikeout and a 71-percent strike rate after that.

Yency Almonte (55.84 — C): Almonte struggled a bit, allowing two hits and walking another but managed to get out unscathed in 1.2 innings in game three.