It’s tough to put lipstick on a pig. If you put lipstick on Dinger, you still have an overweight purple dinosaur.
Anyone who has watched the Colorado Rockies and follows their minor league system knows that the 2015 season is all about allowing new general manager Jeff Bridich to get his fingers dirty and start cleaning up the mess that was left for him by the previous regime. However, when things are as bad as they have been for the Rockies, the cleanup process that Bridich is required to handle is going to take more than two months of baseball to complete.
The May weather in Denver has been the perfect analogy for the month the Rockies have had. The team has played like there is a dark cloud hovering over them that keeps them from seeing sunshine and feeling warmth.
Kyle Kendrick wasn’t great on Friday night, but he gave the Rockies what they should be asking of him. He pitched into the 7th inning and gave up four runs. It wasn’t pretty, but at Coors Field, an outing like Kendrick’s should be good enough on most nights to allow the offense to win a baseball game.
“My job is to give the team a chance to win the game,” Kendrick said. “I feel like I was able to do that. Obviously I don’t like to lose.”
When Kendrick left he was replaced by left-hander Ken Roberts. The rookie didn’t fare so well, a walk and four consecutive hits extended the Giants lead to 7-0. Three of the runs were charged to Roberts with one going to Kendrick. Christian Bergman replaced Roberts and didn’t do much to stop the bleeding. He gave up four runs on five hits, capped by a Matt Duffy home run through the rain.
“KK (Kyle Kendrick) did a good job of keeping us in it,” manager Walt Weiss said. “He had an elevated pitch count early but really got in a groove later. He did a great job.”
Ironically, a game that finished 11-5 was 1-0 in the 6th inning.
The Rockies are in a tough spot. Clearly the fans are tired of the losing. There aren’t words to describe how bad the month has been for the team. Even in a year in which the team is forced to wait for the talent on the farm to develop, there is no way to continue expecting fans to sit back and simply accept this team as they sit currently.
Anyone who knows baseball, anyone who has watched this Rockies team and follows their minor league system knows that the 2015 season is supposed to be a stepping stone. However, there have to be bright spots. There have to be times when fans can look and get excited about things. This month for the Rockies has been a low point for this franchise. Trying to convince fans to stay on board isn’t easy when the team on the field self-destructs on a near-nightly basis.
The rain in Denver doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. Unfortunately for Rockies fans, it seems like the losing also has no scheduled end date.
For Rockies fans, all they can do is sit back and wait for this team, or for some players on this team, to bring them reasons for hope. It isn’t fun right now for anyone watching the team. It doesn’t look like it is going to become more fun anytime soon. It is rough. There is no way and no reason to beat around the bush. The hope for this franchise is in the future, but not the near future. It is firmly entrenched in the long-term future. Those words aren’t exciting to hear for the fans who live and die with each and every game.
Sugar coating things doesn’t make it easier or better. This Rockies team has a direction, but there has to be winning along the way for fans to buy into that direction.
