In 2017, we here at BSN Denver kept constant updates on the man we dubbed the King of Clutch, Nolan Arenado. His insane performance over the last four seasons in high leverage situations stood in direct contrast to arguments that such a thing as “clutch” does not exist and flew in the face of those who believed his RBI totals were reliant on Coors Field rather than his own innate ability to rise to the occasion.
No matter which numbers you look at, if you choose to look, you will see a player who has been one of the very best in MLB at swinging a game in his team’s favor. But one of his teammates qualifies for that list as well. Lead-off hitters aren’t typically seen as run producers, but Charlie Blackmon is no typical lead-off hitter.
He famously set a new Major League record for RBI out of the top spot in the order last season, and again the choruses rang out from those who despise the stat and his home ballpark. But, like with Arenado, the deeper you look, the more truth you find about a player who, with purpose and by design, excels with the game on the line.
Last season, he hit .383/.462/.700 in 144 plate appearances with runners in scoring position and .339/.458/.712 in 72 plate appearances with two outs and runners in scoring position. That’s an OPS of 1.162 and 1.170 respectively. In situations that Baseball Reference deemed “High Leverage” (74 plate appearances) he slashed .438/.500/.703 for an OPS of 1.203. If you can’t see how that helped the Rockies win games and make the postseason—and if you resign to call that a product of Coors Field—I can’t help you.
“I feel like it’s important to know what the situation is,” Blackmon said after hitting two solo home runs in a 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. “Sometimes that may dictate what you need to do in the box.” Some ballplayers find changing any part of their approach can lead to pitfalls. Even Arenado has told us on many occasions that the key is to not treat those at-bats as any different from the rest.
Hitting a baseball is hard enough without mentally putting extra pressure on yourself before the pitcher even delivers. But Blackmon is a remarkably cerebral player who thinks about every aspect of the game constantly like a detective hooked on the same unsolvable case for years. He knows full well what the score is when he steps into the box and admits that he can let that change his approach, a system that would sink a lesser player.
“Sometimes, one run is much more important, sometimes you need to score a whole bunch of runs so that may help you approach your at-bat a little differently,” he says.
All of Blackmon’s hits so far in 2018 are home runs. Two of them tied the game. One put his team ahead for their first victory. Interestingly, for an incredibly patient hitter, the first two came on the first pitch of the at-bat and the third on the second pitch.
Manager Bud Black was asked after the win on Saturday if this early aggression from Blackmon would make him, somehow, an even scarier guy to pitch to. “He’s dangerous,” he replied. “I think that Charlie’s proven that he’s got to be feared from the first pitch on. If the guy in the box is ready to hit, the pitcher knows it and you’ve got to be careful with that first one. If you’re not, heads up.”
Heads up, indeed.
This mentality also helps explain why a guy who hit 37 home runs last season is leading off where traditional logic says you might want him in the middle of the order. The Rockies want Charlie Blackmon getting as many at-bats as is humanly possible and setting the tone from the very first pitch of the game, a pitch no opponent can feel confident in just getting over for an easy strike. Plus, as Saturday proved, he can power an offense from the leadoff spot just fine.
