When Samuel L. Jackson arrived on screen for the first time as Nick Fury in 2008’s Iron Man, letting us know that, “there was an idea,” audiences worldwide were intrigued and fascinated but could not truly have known what was yet to come.
After a few more successful movies in what would become known as the MCU, the entire project hit its low point with the release of the second Thor movie, prompting a series of public discussions about whether the superhero movie idea had been worn out and it this thing had overstayed its welcome.
It can be difficult to see the whole picture when sitting inside of one moment in time.
Similarly, it’s been a brutal beginning to the 2021 Major League Baseball season for the Colorado Rockies.
That is, unless you are rooting for them to snag the first overall pick in next year’s draft.
Either way, It’s too early to be making grand prognostications for good or bad about this group, especially when you break them down into projected individual performance.
Anyone making “they’re on pace for…” statements at this point in the season is telling a joke whether they realize it or not.
The fact is, none of us can see the future and we surely can’t predict with 100 percent accuracy how events are going to unfold. We can, however, take stock of a few truths as we try to make sense of it all.
In the MCU, facts of the universe are symbolized by the six infinity stones. So let us use those as our guide for examining the current state of the Colorado baseball club.
Time: “Dormammu… I’ve come to bargain”
Time will tell (get it?) whether or not the Rockies are stuck in an endless loop of losing. They may well be, at least until the forces that are keeping them there finally relent and stop trying to control everything.
Time is on their side for now, though. They are still a relatively young group and it’s still early in the season.
For many of these players, this last road trip was their first time ever dealing with one of the most difficult dynamics in all of pro sports; the Coors Field Hangover Effect.
That’s on top of everything else that comes with being an everyday player for the first time and adjusting to the speed and quality of MLB.
It’s been pretty ugly at times but any reasonable conventional logic will tell you that improvements should come individually and eventually for the whole group as lessons are learned from taking these early lumps.
Space: “Wakanda Forever”
So… where are the Rockies? Like literally and physically?
At the moment of writing this they have just arrived back in Colorado after their first California road trip.
Their first foray into the polar opposite environment went about as poorly as could be expected but in an incredibly small sample size so far this season, they’ve looked much better at home. Especially the offense.
We will keep a close eye on how this dynamic develops. The Rockies are typically among the worst road teams in baseball, even when their overall record is solid, so seeing if this version of the club can establish some extra confidence at home should be interesting.
Furthermore, Colorado can walk with a little extra pride about their home ballpark these days with it now set to host the All-Star game on July 13 of this year.
This roster may just not have the talent or depth to ever get it going on the road but its always been a team that protected their home turf well and made coming out to 20th and Blake a fun experience more often than not.
Mind: “I could do this all day”
Getting beatdown over and over again can take its toll on your mental faculties.
So far, the Rockies have exhibited the exact kind of Captain America/Captain Marvel inner-strength that you like to soo. Get knocked down, get back up. I can do this all day.
A couple of blowouts against the biggest, baddest team that this multiverse has seen in quite some time, maybe ever, has left them down but certainly not out.
There doesn’t appear to be an quit in these guys and that’s going to make for some phenomenally entertaining baseball, especially once they stop getting matched up against a team that has already acquired all the actual Infinity Stones.
Manager Bud Black is the perfect man to make sure the team never gets too down on itself, and the emergence of young players with the right attitude has also played a role in keeping the minds of the team on an even keel, even if the record isn’t.
Power: “We have a Hulk”
The Rockies… may not have a Hulk.
Right now, both Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon are firmly in Dr. Bruce Banner mode.
Story has been unlucky to an absurd degree. According to StatCast, if the Rockies shortstop had played every game of this season in Angel Stadium, he would have seven home runs. Instead, he has zero.
Blackmon, on the other hand, has simply begun the year in a slump that carried over from Spring Training. He seems likely to break out of it at some point but until then the Rockies offense will be constantly searching for anything resembling rythm.
Oddly enough, one of the Rockies better offensive efforts of the season came on Thursday night against Julio Urias without either of Colorado’s two most established hitters in the lineup.
The good news on this front has of course been Ryan McMahon who has already clobbered six home runs and is currently sporting an OPS+ of 169.
It may turn out that the league doesn’t like him when he’s angry.
Reality: “If you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it”
So… what is the reality of the situation?
We don’t know for sure yet. Some of these guys are discovering right in front of us that they are more than they ever imagined. And some are discovering that the suit may just not fit quite right.
It’s the toughest part of sports that most people eventually reach a level and find out that they can no longer compete. This may ultimately end up being the story for some of the players on the current Colorado Rockies.
But some will go the other way and prove not only to themselves, but to masses of doubters, that they belong.
Soul: “We are Groot”
The best on-field story for the Colorado Rockies in 2021 has easily been the transparent comraderie of the team.
It’s Ryan McMahon flashing his trademark smile and cheering on Garrett Hampson after a sliding catch. It’s Elias Diaz and Austin Gomber embracing after navigating the toughest lineup in baseball for six innings.
It’s Jon Gray pumping his fist for every defensive play made behind him and everyone in the dugout getting bug-eyes when Josh Fuentes flashes the leather.
With the exception of a handful of veterans, who also seem to be enjoying themselves by the way, this club has been a joy to watch interact largely because so many of them are figthing the same battle.
They are fighting against public perception and maybe even their own perceptions of themselves.
They are fighting against the long odds of becoming a consistent above-average, everyday MLB player.
They are fighting for their first real contract and recognition and maybe even some honors and hardware for the first time.
And they are fighting together. They are in this together. They are going to sink or swim (and more than likely it’ll be a lot more of the former than the latter) together.
They are one. They are Groot.
