Likely Story

How about that. Trevor Story is doing well in a year that is not 2016.

Granted, he's not matching his home run hitting feats of his rookie year, but he has become a more well-rounded hitter, a better defensive shortstop, and a better all-around player. It's very easy to become a pure home run hitter in Denver (that was most of the team back in the 90s), but it's harder still to excel on a multi-dimensional level, and Trevor Story is following in the footsteps of Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu this year, bringing the infield closer together...save for 1st base.

As together as the lineup is this year, and as consistent as a lot of the hitters are this year, the Rockies have taken a HUGE dive since their time at 1st place, thanks to some MAJOR pitching woes, and some generally unfit performances from people that were supposed to be playing at Major League level this year. Thanks to the ineptitude of Pat Valaika, Mike Tauchmann and Ryan McMahon, the bench has been wholly unimpressive, leaving the veterans to the starting lineup, many of which, like Chris Iannetta and Ian Desmond, are part their prime.

The other problem is that while the Rockies were doing alright, other teams like the Dodgers and Giants took advantage of that by having their players work harder to take advantage of the deficit. Both teams have more positive momentum, and...arguably better pitching right now; while the Giants' pitching is a bit scattered, some of their recent callups have definitely worked. So the Rockies may have slumped at the wrong time.

All they can do right now is keep playing as they have been, and that goes especially for this infield combo. Trevor Story has a chance to make a name for himself as a versatile, multi-faceted player. I hope he doesn't blow it.

Coming Tomorrow- A closer that was never supposed to be where he is now...and certainly not twice.