Rockies-Dodgers Series Grades: Getting back to winning

Your Colorado Rockies had a huge series against the LA Dodgers, winning three of four at home, all in dramatic fashion. In a four-game series there were lots of contributors who earned themselves a grade, and while there were no star performances, there still was a lot to talk about in a wild and exciting divisional battle.

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.

Ryan McMahon (92.46 — A+): The unquestioned MVP of the series, McMahon couldn’t be stopped against the Dodgers, as he was just superb making the best of seemingly all the 10 plate appearances he was granted. Of those 10, he had two hits—both home runs—and two walks getting five RBIs and the crucial walk-off in game three. It’s no wonder LA intentionally walked him in the ninth in game four, as the kid’s getting hot right now and everyone should be scared.

Nolan Arenado (55.87 — C): Due to some shoulder soreness he suffered in game two in turning a double play, Arenado only had three at-bats after his game one performance, which didn’t produce anything noteworthy. In game one, when at full health, he had three hits and an RBI double. His average is brought down by those other three at-bats.

Charlie Blackmon (58.26 — C): Blackmon’s series got progressively better as he started off slow and then picked things up, reaching a crescendo in game four with a solo home run. He did have two walks in the other three games of the series while stealing a base and getting a single in game two. It wasn’t a vintage performance but still a valuable showing by the center fielder.

Trevor Story (48.31 — D+): Story managed a hit in each game, three of which were doubles, he just struggled to avoid strikeouts with five in the series and grounded into a costly double play in game three, resulting in a negative WPA in three of the four games.

David Dahl (52.79 — C-): Dahl’s grade might not seem great but he did still produce two singles and two walks in the series—one of those was in game four where he was intentionally walked leading to the bases loaded walk-off walk by Iannetta.

Its games two and three that brought his grade down as he struck out in both games without getting on base.

DJ Lemahieu (72.22 — B): DJ was big for Colorado in games two and four while he didn’t do much in the other two matchups. He had a two-RBI jack in game two adding another hit and a walk. In game four he also had a double and a single scoring two runs. A really nice series by the second baseman.

Carlos Gonzalez (75.37 — B+): CarGo had himself a series, walking once in each game and getting four hits in his three appearances in the series. He only had a triple as far as extra-base hits go and struck out once in each game as well, but he was one of the most consistent bats in the massive four-game bout.

Ian Desmond (38.12 — D-): This hasn’t been a productive stretch for Desmond as he’s only had two extra-base hits since July 22nd. His series against LA wasn’t much better as he had two singles and a walk but also struck out three times while grounding into a double play in game one. That’s just not enough from an everyday regular.

Gerardo Parra (45.77 — D+): Parra’s two appearances as a pinch-hitter in games two and four resulted in two outs which brought his average down. He did get two singles in game four, his one worthwhile outing of the series.

Chris Iannetta (73.37 — B): What a series for Iannetta who got the walk for the win in game four in walk-off fashion, good for a 0.291 WPA. He started off hot in game one as well with his highest DPR of the season with a three-hit performance that included a three-RBI jack. He also had a triple in game two while getting two hits. This was a huge series for Iannetta who’d struggled mightily until the battle with the Dodgers. His one lowlight was striking out five times.

Pat Valaika (25.71 — F): Valaika had four ABs in three games and only had a strikeout and grounded into a double play without managing a hit or a walk. Nothing to write home about.

Tyler Anderson (84.30 — A-): Anderson was terrific in game one going six innings, allowing four hits, and just one run while walking one. The lefty struck out six in the process on 101 pitches with a 1.66 FIP bringing his ERA under 4.00 once again. His WPA of 0.255 was very high added to his 65 game score. His strike percentage of 66-percent was solid too, the only slight negative was his ground ball to fly ball ratio of 7-to-9, but an outstanding outing none the less.

Jon Gray (54.36 — C-): This was an off day for Gray who conceded eight hits and four runs while only striking out four, not his typical electric stuff. To his credit, he battled and kept Colorado in it as they eventually got the win. That said, his stats across the board weren’t great as he had a 5.63 FIP and a -0.145 WPA.

Kyle Freeland (76.37 — B+): Freeland had himself another solid outing even if he wasn’t in control the way he’s been in other starts. Looking at his box score, you could’ve sworn this was the type of outing Jon Gray would have, not the much more controlled Freeland who allowed six hits but struck out 10.

The Colorado native went seven inning throwing 111 pitches—he’s now thrown over 100 pitches in his last four outings and over 110 in three of those, which is a bit concerning. His stats were great across the board as he only allowed two runs early on and was on a roll from then on.

Chad Bettis (74.86 — B): The Rockies needed Bettis to bounce back in this series and he did, going 6.1 innings while allowing only three hits and one run. His DPR would’ve been even higher if not for a 4-to-3 walk to strikeout ratio and a FIP on the day of 4.11 with as many ground ball outs as fly balls. Yet, Bettis battled throwing only 85 pitches, and only 55-percent of those for strikes, getting the Rockies the crucial third win.

Wade Davis (19.88 — F): This wasn’t Davis’ best series by a long shot, mainly due to his rough game one outing in which he was able to get an out in the eighth but then fell apart in the ninth giving up three runs off of two big flies, for a WPA of -0.408. His second outing in game four was much better getting the three outs and the save, even if his stuff wasn’t amazing as he only threw half of his pitches for strikes, walked one and had a 1-to-2 ground ball to fly ball ratio.

Adam Ottavino(58.81 — C): Otto’s run of dominance has slowed down a bit as he had another unsuccessful outing in game four conceding two hits and a run. In fairness, his FIP of 1.16 was identical to his game two stats where he allowed one hit while subsequently shutting down LA’s bats off of a 73 percent strike percentage. Still, Ottavino’s continued to have uneven outings as of late as his DPR’s slowly gone down.

Seunghwan Oh  (32.14 — F): Oh allowed his first two runs as a Rockie in game one where he allowed a two-run homer after walking one. He struck out two but the damage was done by then. In his outing in game three, he was solid getting a K and inducing two long fly ball outs. His 67.27 DPR on the season is still the third best on the team—behind Freeland and Ottavino—and among the best in the NL.

Bryan Shaw (65.35 — B-): Shaw might not inspire confidence when he gets on the mound as he’s still letting guys on base, allowing two hits and a walk in two outings against the Dodgers. However, he keeps on tossing scoreless innings and hasn’t allowed a run in the month of August, in fact, he has only allowed two runs in his last 10 appearances since July.

Jake McGee (52.13 — C-): McGee appeared twice in the series allowing a hit both times. His game two outing was incredibly valuable as he went 1.2 innings without conceding a run as he pounded the strike zone throwing 17 of his 23 pitches for strikes. In game four he struggled, managing to only get an out while allowing a run despite having a FIP in the minus—which is actually a good thing.

Harrison Musgrave (81.09 — A-): Musgrave came into game two to get one out and did so inducing a fly ball on four pitches.

Scott Oberg (48.36 — D+): Appearing in three games in the series, Oberg’s low score is from a poor appearance in game one where he was taken yard twice. His other two outings where solid as he came in to get an out both times and managed to do so while only conceding one hit and zero runs.