Why the Rockies are standing by Ian Desmond (for now)

DENVER – To say that Rockies fans almost never boo their own is misleading. The boo birds have come out at Coors Field plenty of times in the often frustrating history of a club that has had some pretty big payrolls for underperforming players.

Newly symbolic for their ire: Ian Desmond.

The leather-lunged haters have had plenty of previous practice, like that time three runs scored on a Christian Friedrich wild pitch—or pretty much any time a reliever has entered the game with a lead and left with a deficit. Starting pitchers who couldn’t get out of the second inning have been booed off the field. And Jose Reyes was booed after comments about not really wanting to be in Denver.

But there was something different about the nature of what happened on Wednesday during a four-strikeout performance.

Signed prior to the 2017 season to a five year, $70 million contract, Desmond has not produced anywhere near that investment level since joining his new team and has been, by several measures, one of the worst hitters in all of baseball in 2018.

The exhalation of emotion from the Colorado crowd was the result of impatience with a player whose price tag brings certain expectations.

But the Rockies aren’t wavering in their support for Desmond and his .178 batting average. At least, not yet.

“Yes I’ll trot him out there again tomorrow,” said Bud Black after Wednesday’s game. “Had a big day in New York, homered against Syndergaard, homered late against Robles for the game-winner. Today, it looked like he just wasn’t seeing the slider. He’ll be out there tomorrow.”

Probably the most important person in the organization, Nolan Arenado, has Desmond’s back too.

“I think Ian’s going to be just fine,” he said. “I think if people saw the work he puts in and the effort he puts in I don’t think they’d be questioning him or booing him they way they were. He works extremely hard. I really like having Ian on my team. I appreciate who he is and the work he puts in. When you see someone work hard like that, you know it’s a matter of time for them.”

Arenado knows the fans are tired of waiting for the on-field value to arrive. He heard them voice their displeasure. “Let’s not forget,” Arenado says, “Two games ago, he won the game for us in New York with two homers. You can boo all you want, but he single-handedly won that game. So, he helps our team in many ways, maybe not on the field as much yet as he will. But off the field, he does a lot.”

Desmond has been through this before, all ballplayers experience slumps at times in their careers. “Obviously, I need to do better,” he says, “But put that behind you at the same time.”

Focusing on future will be the key, he says, “Tomorrow is another day.”

Black says he is in for the long haul. But that probably won’t be the case if .178 continues to be a longer-term trend.

“We’re going to continue to look at the big picture,” he says.

And part of that picture has been the six home runs Desmond has hit this season, each of which has contributed to big wins.

“Ian has some strength in his swing. If he gets it going, there’s going to be some damage,” Black said.

There will continue to be debate about whether the Rockies are showing remarkable patience or just stubbornly defiant, afraid to admit a mistake, with Desmond until he either turns it around or the team makes some dramatic roster change in order to shake things up.

The more important question, from a team perspective, is whether or not having a light-hitting, occasionally homering player on a 21-17 team built on run prevention is doing to derail their season?

As long as the Rockies keep winning at a decent clip, they will continue to play Desmond. As long as Desmond keeps struggling, the fans will continue to focus their ire on him. And as long as the Rockies keep pitching well, they will continue to win.

So, this may be a holding pattern for a while.

For those wondering, the Rockies have plenty of options should the situation get so dire they feel they need to do something drastic. They could pull from a deep farm system or cash those chips in on a blockbuster trade to acquire a bat.

But for now, they’ve made it perfectly clear that they still believe Ian Desmond to turn it all around. Even if the fans don’t.