COLORADO ROCKIES â May 22,2017
The Rockies are really the surprise team of the National League. Currently, they are two games up in the NL West. What is surprising is that they are playing better on the road than they are at home. Playing on the road has always been their downfall. When I studied the stats, nothing stood out. They are 5th in the league in hitting, 4th in homers, last in stolen bases, 6th in slugging, Their pitching is 7th in ERA,6th in homers allowed. OK, so what is keeping them in first place?
The one glaring asset on this team is the bullpen. They are the top team in saves. One of the sabr metric formulas said that their pitching staff was tops in crisis situations which would again come back to the bullpen.
Mark Williams is the first baseman and heâs off to a fast start hitting at .323 on a pace to 45 homers. It looks like has beaten Ian Desmond out for the regular spot. Second base is D.J. LeMaheiu hitting his normal around .300. Trevor Storey looks like he has run into the sophomore jinx and has probably for the time being lost his job to Alexi Amaristta who is hitting .340 in only 50 abs. Thatâs only about 100 points above his lifetime average. Nolan Arenado at third base is being Nolan Arenado again and thatâs bad news for pitchers everywhere. Carlos Gonzalez is off to a slow start hitting only.221 with 3 homers. At age 31, it will be interesting to see if Cargo can regain his stroke.
Gerado Parra is the left fielder and he is fairly average outfielder. If he were playing in Philly, the fans would be yelling for a trade, but apparently he has beaten out Ian Desmond. Charlie Blackmon has been a fixture in centerfield for 7 seasons now and he only hit .324 with 29 homers last year. He is hitting about the same this year, but on a slightly faster pace in homers.
Catchersâ hitting has been a problem for the Rockies this year until they elevated 24 year old Tony Wolters to the regular job. In 64 abs, he is hitting .313. Weâll see if he can keep it up. His backup is our old friend Ryan Hanigan.
The rotation has been fairly steady for a bunch of âwho heâ guys. It doesnât seem possible that Tyler Chatwood is in his 6th season. As I recall, he has had trouble staying healthy. He did get in 27 starts last season and won 12 of them. He is 3-6 with a 5.09 era this year. Tyler Anderson is in his second year is 3-4 with a 6.00 era. Antonio Senzatela is in his rookie year and is currently 6-1 with a 3.67 era. Another rookie, Kyle Freeland is 5-2 with a 3.31 era. I believe he just came off a 7 inning no hitter. Yet another rookie German Marquez is 2-2 with a 4.34 era. While they list those 5 as their rotation, they have brought up Jeff Holland to pitch tonight. He is 1-0 with a 5.40 era.
They signed long time KC closer Greg Holland this year and he has saved 19 out of 19 and has a .096 era. Think where the Phils could be with a closer like him. Rusin, McGee and Ottavino all have eras of three, or under.
I think in order to beat this team, the Phils will have to chase the starters early and you donât want to give Holland a save opportunity.