Rockies offense was their ultimate downfall and they know it

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies found themselves playing in the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers thanks largely to their pitching and defense but it turned out that could only take them so far.

An offense that struggled for much of the season, with a few respites featuring a handful of explosive outputs, was dominated by the Brewers, leading to their ultimate downfall.

Scoring just a pair of runs in Los Angeles in Game 163, in Chicago in the Wild Card, and in Milwaukee for Game 1, they were shutout in Game 2 and Game 3, ending their season with a whimper.

Plenty of credit goes to the Brewers pitching staff, especially the insane talent they brought out of the bullpen. And it has to be acknowledged that the Colorado bats did enough to get them farther than 22 other teams in MLB, but the frustrating end to their season leaves them in clear need of offensive help.

An offense that put up the lowest batting average in team history scored in just one inning of the NLDS, the ninth frame of the first game. They tallied only 14 hits.

And it wasn’t just the guys at the bottom of the order who have struggled all season. Charlie Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado, and Trevor Story – the latter two even getting NL MVP consideration – combined for just seven hits, only two went for extra bases.

Other than Tony Wolters, who only played in the final game and went 1-for-2, no member of the lineup had an average for the series better than .222.

Manager Bud Black talked about the quiet bats after the last game for his club in 2018 ended.

“They pitched really well. They’ve got good arms. I think there was a little bit of pressing going on all week. These were games that were high intensity and a lot on the line. You know, the Dodger game, the Cubs game, these three playoff games. I think there were some guys trying a little bit too hard, which is a natural occurrence.”

Nolan Arenado agreed and took responsibility. “We got here because of our pitchers,” he said. “Not because of me. We know our offense has to be better.”

Inside of that conversation, he added some additional context to a narrative that has gotten a bit twisted throughout the season. “Earlier in the season I talked about wanting to win more and this is all I meant. Playing in a postseason series has been amazing and those pitchers got us here.”

Charlie Blackmon honed in on a specific area saying, “we need to be better situationally.”

The question now is what needs to be done about it, but that can be left for tomorrow.

And though it may be hard to see in the immediate, Black sees a potential silver lining for these struggles as far as the future is concerned.

“Over time, if this group — these Rockie teams move forward, we’ll become more accustomed to these type of games. I think last year was a step forward in the Wild Card game. I think we saw overall better at-bats from a number of guys, but we pressed a little bit. I mean, that’s part of it. But these are learning experiences for a lot of guys.”