Rockies off to hot start thanks to contributions from a myriad of areas

With a record of 4-1, tied for best in MLB entering Wednesday, and positioned atop the National League West standings, things have been going quite well for the Colorado Rockies.

Besides winning their first two games on the road already – it took until the month of May for them to earn that many wins away from Coors Field last year – they won a series against the vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time at home since 2018.

It’s quite preposterous to project the team to continue playing .800 baseball. We’ve never seen a 130-32 record in the history of baseball before and we never will, despite how many advances an analytics department can make.

But it’s totally fine to get excited and celebrate the things that have contributed to the best start in franchise history through the first five games.

Connor Joe

Only five players for Colorado have played in every game this season and four of those started every game.

No, not Charlie Blackmon or Ryan McMahon, who have each taken a day to rest, recover and put some salve on those early season bumps and bruises.

Amongst free agent signings (Kris Bryant and C.J. Cron) and homegrown talent (Brendan Rodgers), former minor league invite Connor Joe has seen his name on Bud Black’s lineup card for all five games in 2022.

He’s rewarded his skipper by setting the table for the last three contests as the leadoff hitter – all against left-handed starters – by scoring five of his NL-leading seven runs scored this season.

CoJo also entered the Rockies’ first off-day of the season with the 10th-highest OPS in the Senior Circuit thanks to a .458 on-base percentage and a .684 slugging percentage. 

He’s also spent time playing left field, first base and slotted at the designated hitter spot when better defensive options were available.

It’s still early, but Joe has put the “super” in super utility man so far. 

The Entire Bullpen

When was the last time you could recount the number of runs the Rockies’ bullpen allowed in a series against the Dodgers on one hand? How about over a five-game stretch?

Colorado relievers have been the best in the game to start the season according to ERA. In 23.0 innings, only two runs (0.78 ERA) have scored against the horses in the arm barn. 

By comparison, the reigning World Series Champs have surrendered 14 earned runs so far and the Los Angeles Angels, who spent $90.75 million on four relievers this offseason, have given up an MLB-worst 18 earned runs. 

Rockies’ relievers are also stranding a league-high 97.1% of runners. Considering league average is usually in the 70-72nd percentile, and even the best team last season at stranding runners, Cleveland, came in at 77.2%, this number is bound to drop at some point.

Until then, the bullpen has been a solid strength in the early going for the boys in purple.

On The Base Paths

For a club without a major base stealing threat, Colorado has done their best to place at the track meet.

At a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases, only the Chicago White Sox have swiped more bags (4) without a caught stealing.

All of those steals, you may recall, came against the Dodgers in one game and against one of the best catchers in the sport, Will Smith. One, courtesy of the fastest man on the Rockies’ roster, Garrett Hampson, even came off a left-hander. 

It should also be noted that the club is tied with the Dodgers for first in the NL for Base Running, a statistic that calculates, well, the quality of base running by the team.

Depth Pieces

Outside of a sterling performance by Germán Márquez in Game Two, there hasn’t been one singular player carrying the roster through their current four-game winning streak. 

It’s been contributions from everyone on the 28-man roster, minus infielder Alan Trejo and right-handed reliever Jordan Sheffield, who have yet to appear in a game this season. 

The long bench in the bullpen has certainly contributed to the concept of improved depth for the club.

Ty Blach, the final player to be placed on the 28-man roster, recorded the franchise’s first four-inning save in over a decade on Sunday while becoming just the seventh Coloradan to pitch for the Rockies. 

Ashton Goudeau was a late addition as well. He hasn’t given up a run in his first 3.1 innings pitched. In the process, he recorded his first career save in Monday’s extra-inning victory in Texas.

The quality of the bench has also allowed Black the confidence to mix and match accordingly. 

Over the last two games, we saw Sam Hilliard come on late as a defensive replacement in the outfield. Yonathan Daza also factored on Tuesday to upgrade the outfield alignment. Center fielder Randal Grichuk – who had made a game-saving catch earlier in the game – moved to right field and Daza went to center as Charlie Blackmon was removed for the final three outs. 

Offensively, only C.J. Cron has held a regular spot in the order, cleanup, while the rest of the lineup has been predicated to matchups against the opposing starting pitcher.

On Monday, José Iglesias notched a four-hit outing from the nine-spot, only the third time in franchise history and first in over 20 years. He stellar performance also included an RBI and game-tying run in the eighth during the comeback win.

Even when the streak of solid play ends, there’s still hope that hitters like Kris Bryant, Ryan McMahon and Cron, not mention starting pitchers like Kyle Freeland and Márquez, can carry the team on their backs as they have shown time and time again.

Until then, the full-team effort has been more than enough in early going for Colorado.