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DENVER — The Colorado Rockies return home to Coors Field on Friday evening but over the last few months, the boys in purple have shucked their old dichotomy of performing vastly differently on the road than at home and replaced it with a new one built around beating good teams and losing to bad ones.
The Rockies have not taken a series against a team with a sub .500 record since they swept the Atlanta Braves on July 22nd. During that stretch, they’ve gone 10-5 against division leaders and won all five series they’ve played against such teams. They also took series’ from the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants in that time.
The trend continued on the road trip that ended the season despite the fact that the Rockies finally managed to at least split a series against a bad team, the San Diego Padres. Now the Rockies welcome the Fathers to Coors, no longer anywhere near the Wild Card race and instead just looking to get this monkey off their back before the offseason arrives.
There is no doubt that this team is still on the upward swing. You can’t field a team with this many rookies and improve on your record by double digits without getting a sense that you are headed in the right direction. But the Rockies don’t want to enter the offseason, and therefore the 2017 season, having played nearly half a season of baseball without being able to take a single series from a team less talented than them.
It absolutely can become a mental block that extends into next season, especially when the contrast is so stark. The Rockies are aware of this dynamic and there are various theories on why it arose. Do they play down to their competition? Is it a lack of leadership? Or experience? Are they simply not talented enough and playing above their heads against the good teams?
At BSN Denver, we’ve tended to lean more toward the lack of experience explanation, but whatever you think has precipitated the current situation. The pathetic showing this week against the Arizona Diamondbacks was simply unacceptable. Teams get swept on the road against clubs like that backed into a corner all the time. But to be completely outclassed in all three games — to not ever even feel like they were in it — drives home the most important point that whatever the issues, it has become the hump that this team must get over to ever be taken seriously.
They need to prove it to their GM. They need to prove it to their fans. But mostly, the Colorado Rockies need to prove to themselves that they can come out and play dominant baseball against a team that they “should” beat. They have an opportunity this weekend and make no mistake, this is the time of year where people are playing … and managing … for their jobs.
