This just in, the sky is not falling.
The Rockies are in an offensive funk, but they have not fallen into oblivion.
For all the teeth gnashing on public discussion forums, they did wake up on Wednesday morning, fresh off being one-hit by Jordan Lyles of all people, glanced at the NL West standings and lo and behold they sit just a few games out of first place.
And, just as importantly, for all the offensive woes of the Rockies, they aren’t the only team in the NL West in a funk.
Now, Rockies fans aren’t used to seeing the team scuffling along with a .229 average, which makes it natural for some panic.
But chew on this…
The only NL West team with an average of .240 or better? San Francisco, third in the NL with a .256 average. The Giants went into their Wednesday afternoon game against the Reds in third place in the NL West, a half-game back of the Rockies, who were off Wednesday.
Hey, the NLW-leading Diamondbacks are 15th in the 15-team NL with a .222 average. The Dodgers, highest payroll in baseball and all, are 10th at .237, sitting in fourth place in the NL West with a rotation that is unraveling.
Now, that’s not saying there is reason to celebrate down on Blake Street.
But there also is no reason to pout and shout.
It is a 162-game grind, and there are high points and low points.
There’s nothing to celebrate about a team 43 games into the season hitting .229, but there’s also nothing to mourn about a team that was 2 ½ games back of the division-leading Diamondbacks pending the outcome of the Diamondbacks Thursday against the Brewers.
Now, Ian Desmond certainly isn’t celebrating his .171 average, nor can Chris Iannetta get too excited about hitting .229 or Carlos Gonzalez .216.
But then who thought Paul Goldschmidt, the face of the Diamondbacks, would go into Thursday hitting .213, catcher Alex Avila would be at .127, shortstop Nick Ahmed at .212 and right fielder Chris Owings .204.
And the Giants three off-season additions to revive the offense? Evan Longoria is hitting .244, Austin Jackson .228 and Andrew McCutchen .252.
Yes, second baseman DJ LeMahieu, a key component to the top of the Rockies lineup and superb defensive infielder, is on the disabled list for the second time this year (and second time in his career), this time with a left thumb injury, the seriousness of which hasn’t been made public.
But injuries are a part of the routine in the course of a season.
Injuries?
The Diamondbacks are waiting for the 2018 debut of third baseman Jake Lamb. They have lost right-handed starter Taijuan Walker to Tommy John surgery, just learned center fielder A.J. Pollock will be out four to eight weeks with a left thumb fracture, and starting pitcher Shelby Miller is sidelined while he recovers from Tommy John as well.
The Dodgers disabled list current includes left-handers Clayton Kershaw (left bicep tendinitis) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (left groin strain), shortstop Corey Seager (Tommy John surgery on May 4), and on Tuesday night had third baseman Justin Turner in the lineup for the first time this season.
The Giants’ disabled list includes the No. 1 and 2 starters, Madison Bumgarner (fractured in left hand) and Johnny Cueto (sprained right elbow), closer Mark Melancon (recovery from surgery last September), second baseman Joe Panik (left thumb surgery), and outfielder Hunter Pence (right thumb surgery). And there was talk on Wednesday about concussion concerns with catcher Buster Posey.
And here’s the kicker: The Rockies haven’t even settled in at Coors Field.
It is one of the game’s most profound home field advantages, even if the Rockies convenience store efforts at home (7-11) have been softened by the fact that are a surprising 16-9 on the road.
They have played fewer home games than any NL team except the braves (6-6). That, however, is going to change once the Rockies get through the remaining seven games on their current nine-game trip–their second three-city trip in the first eight weeks of the season.
Sixty-three of their final 113 games are at home, and if there is a post-season berth at stake the Rockies play 17 of 28 September games at Coors, including the final seven.
None of that guarantees success.
But the offensive inconsistency of the first 42 games doesn’t mean there is no hope, either.
It’s the beauty of a 162-game schedule.
0 Comments (3 conversations)
BCreasman
Very well said!
Jambron
While I definitely agree that the Rockies’ offense is likely to be bolstered by Coors Field, and that advanced “park adjusted” stats are somewhat misleading at this time frame because they assume a 50/50 road/home split (which the Rockies have not had. Therefore, the advanced stats are over penalizing the Rockies offense more than they should given the early number of road games). I don’t see anything in this article that gives me much hope.
How is the fact that Evan Longoria or Andrew McCuthcen are struggling going to bolster the Rockies offense? Okay, other NL West teams have the same production problem as the Rockies: bad offenses and declining production from household names. However, that has zero impact on the struggles of Desmond, Cargo, Parra, and Ianetta this season.
I don’t give one rip about the Giants struggling offense or the Dodgers struggling offense. I want to know what hope there is for Desmond to hit his weight? Or, what it is going to take for Cargo to be league average at hitting?
Are there reasons to expect their BABIP should go up? Have they been getting unlucky? Are they dealing with injury? These would be reasons for optimism. Yet, there is little evidence Cargo, Parra, or Desmond are going to turn it on. They have been these players for the past few seasons (sometimes longer). The track record of them being below replacement level is there. Sure, they’ll get a slight bump from Coors Field, but I see nothing in this article that constitutes optimism for our offense.
Sure other NL West teams have crappy offense production too, but why shouldn’t the Rockies bench Desmond for McMahon or play Cargo and Parra less? What is the reason to believe the offense will get better outside a nominal Coors Field bump?
Yes, the Rockies are built different this year and they don’t need to rely on their offense to win them 85% of their games. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to improve our offense. That doesn’t mean giving Ian Desmond or Cargo a pass because Evan Longoria can’t hit this year either. It’s time for some changes and stop giving the offense a free pass.
Ugh…the premise of this article infuriates me:
The Rockies offense is bad, but other NL west teams also have bad offenses and terrible players/contracts, so we are fine. What a crock!
I think the article was meant more to provide optimism that the season is not lost and that we are still in this thing, not to reassure that we’ll get better. He was explaining that the season is not lost and that despite subpar play we are towards the top of the division still.
ziggity187
They need to start winning more at home for sure.