The Colorado Rockies must sell their fans, the media, and themselves on new approach

When you think about the greatest players in Colorado Rockies history, you think about names like Larry Walker and Todd Helton.

You think of current superstars like Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and Charlie Blackmon.

You remember the previous era defined by Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.

Then, if you are of a certain age, you might begin to wax poetic about the Blake Street Bombers: Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, Andres Galarraga, and Ellis Burks.

Of course, you have incredibly fond memories of All-Star players and people like Eric Young and DJ LeMahieu.

And you can’t leave out the boys that took them to their only October Classic headlined by Matt Holliday, including fan favorites like Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe.

You might not list all of these 16 players before you got to a single pitcher, but if I were to wager, I’d bet most Rockies fans would name at least 10 position players before even beginning to think about the men who have toed the rubber over the years.

And it makes sense.

These guys always gotten the glory. They’ve often been the best thing about coming to the ballpark. Since there hasn’t been much winning over the years to hang their hats on, having a star hitter or two on every single Colorado club over the years is one of the biggest positives fans can take away from their experience.

Also just take a look at some of those stats!

It’s pretty easy to get excited about Walker or Helton blasting 35+ homers while hitting over .300 and winning Gold Gloves. Arenado and Story grab all the modern headlines for more or less the same reason.

Meanwhile, the best starting pitcher in Rockies history, Jorge De La Rosa, has a career ERA of 4.58.

So clearly, they’ve always been an offense first team, we should remember the hitters more than the pitchers, and there really isn’t much to celebrate on the mound for Colorado, right?

Absolutely… unequivocally… and now even problematically… wrong. At least, according to the best data we have available.

You see, a lot of folks are calling for massive paradigm shifts for the Colorado Rockies right now and it is easy to see why. The most common request is for a new General Manager, and heat has been turned up on the owner. A far more realistic outcry has been for an increase in commitment to analytics.

That last part is the most important for solving their on-field issues but it also comes with a huge potential off-field dilemma.

Can Colorado first convince themselves, and then the media, and then their fans, that they need to be – and in fact have always been – a pitching first team?

The number of people who roll their eyes at the mere suggestion is the biggest blockade this franchise has to overcome in terms of its on-field identity.

Tell a Rockies fan that Jon Gray is the best strikeout artist in franchise history and they are disinclined to appreciate his accomplishment or acknowledge the fact that he has done a better job than most anyone else in navigating the harshest environment in baseball to pitch. Instead, the most common response is to take a shot at every single pitcher the team has ever had.

“That’s not saying much,” they quip, throwing the entirety of Colorado’s pitching history into the garbage bin.

And that’s the problem.

As much as it is true that the club hasn’t exactly boasted a long list of world-beaters on the mound over the years, it also remains true that every single pitcher they have had has been underrated by their own fans and media.

The biggest difference for the ’07 Rockies was Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales, Brian Fuentes, Manny Corpas, and Matt Belisle.

The ’16 and ’19 Rockies had Arenado, Story, and Blackmon, so what did they not have that that they did when they made the postseason in ’17 and ’18? Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Greg Holland, Chris Rusin and the good versions of Jon Gray, Jake McGee and Wade Davis.

Those who look fondly on the first postseason appearance in 1995 often inaccurately remember it as the crowning achievement of the Bombers. The problem is that the Rockies offense was significantly better in each of the next two seasons when they were at home in the fall. It was a down year for the names you know.

But Kevin Ritz, Armando Reynoso, Steve Reed, Darren Holmes, Curt Leskanic, Bill Swift, Marvin Freeman, and Roger Bailey didn’t get a fun and long-lasting nickname for their group.

Make no mistake though, they are the biggest reason for the Rockies first trip to October.

The fact is that these players, despite their lack of legendary status and the high probability that even hardcore modern Rockies fans might not even know who some of these guys are, they have always been more important to winning games than the big famous boppers.

The data is overwhelmingly clear, the Rockies have to pitch before they hit if they want to achieve team success.

The best offense in Rockies history (2014) won 66 games. The second worst offense in Rockies history (2000) won 82 games.

The question is whether or not those who control the narrative and those who buy the tickets will ever accept celebrating and cheering for a guy with a 4.20 ERA just as hard as they do the ones who hit 30 home runs a year.

Because on this team, the former is more valuable than the latter.