Granted it is just one game out of 162 in the early goings of April, but the Colorado Rockies reverted to their old ways in last night’s 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres.
Prior to the contest Monday night, the Rockies came in hot, taking two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers and three of four from the Milwaukee Brewers the series prior.
After an impressive showing from the fans in Colorado’s home opening series against Los Angeles, only 20,504 paid Monday night — 40.7% full capacity.
Those who did show up, however, witnessed history.
Wil Myers, the No. 3 ranked prospect in the 2012 MLB.com Prospect Watch, hit for the cycle. Myers went a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish, recording two runs and RBI — raising his average to .382 on the young season.
As for the Rockies, well, they played down to their competition — again. We’ve seen this story before. In 2016, that was the theme for this club as they struggled with the lesser opponents.
Last season, the Rockies went a combined 35-47 against opponents below .500. The only success they really had was winning six out of seven over the Atlanta Braves. Without that series, Colorado is essentially 29-46 against teams below .500.
Wins/Loss record in 2016 against opponents below .500:
Arizona: 9-10
Atlanta: 6-1
Cincinnati: 2-5
Miami: 2-5
Milwaukee: 1-5
Philadelphia: 2-5
Pittsburgh: 2-5
San Diego: 10-9
Tampa Bay: 1-2
The Rockies let the opposing starter, Jarred Cosart, walk all over them.
Cosart, 26, wasn’t initially apart of San Diego’s rotation plans. However, due to an injury to Trevor Cahill, the right-hander was forced into a spot start.
He faired well, to say the least.
Mainly featuring a cutter/curveball mix, the right-hander kept the Rockies’ bats limited, recording three critical double plays. He pitched four scoreless innings, yielding five hits while walking one and striking out two.
This coming from a guy who made nine starts for the Padres last season, sporting an 0-3 record coupled with an ERA of 6.03. He gave up 25 runs on 42 hits in 37.1 innings while walking 23 batters. Command has always been an issue of his as he threw 70 pitches in Monday night’s contest, 43 of those for strikes.
Yes — as if pitching was the main concern for Colorado entering the 2017 season, the bats look to be the thing to worry about. Besides, their starter (Tyler Chatwood) gave up four runs in five-plus innings at Coors Field, a far cry from bad.
While Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu are finding their footing at the dish, Carlos Gonzalez and Trevor Story are both hitting in the high-100’s while the strikeout numbers continue to rise — eight and 12 strikeouts respectively.
Just think, without the production from both Gerardo Parra and Mark Reynolds, this team probably wouldn’t be above .500 at this point.
For the Rockies to be considered legitimate contenders or even playoff hopefuls in 2017, instances like this cannot continue to happen. Yes — it’s just one game in April but these games against divisional opponents and teams who they’re supposed to beat mean something in the grand scheme of things.
