Falling Rockies

 

And so here we are. A Rockies team that began the season vying for first, now stuck in last behind the Diamondbacks. Fitting, I suppose.

I don't think anyone's acting like this is a truly bad team, though. C.J. Cron, a professional home run hitter, has unsurprisingly found himself at home in Denver, and has 14 home runs as I write this. Ryan McMahon, while not hitting as many homers as he was last year, has 26 RBIs. Connor Joe is, in fact, for real, and has made for a pretty smooth DH. Brendan Rodgers, Yonathan Daza and Randal Grichuk have become excellent everyday players. Jose Iglesias can actually hit .325 again. Chad Kuhl and Kyle Freeland are great at keeping opposing offenses away.

But like...everything else is too mediocre to really make this a 'good' team, also.

Like, I never thought we'd ever see German Marquez this human. Ever since coming up with everyone, Marquez has had control, velocity and low ERAs. Now he's 1-5 with a 6.71 ERA. People have figured out how to hit him, and he's still not sure how to get over it. Not much better for Antonio Senzatela either, who's back to a 5 ERA, nor for Austin Gomber, whose 6ish ERA is proving that the Cardinals won the Arenado trade. And even Freeland still isn't the guy he was in 2018. So even if this is a stable rotation, and with Ryan Feltner slowly learning how to pitch in the majors it's gaining some stability, it's not...the GREATEST one to go against NL West teams with.

At the same time, you're beginning to see new pieces begin to emerge. Feltner is one of them, he's evened to a 3.71 ERA after improving since his awful start at Citizens Bank Park. Another one is rookie catcher Brian Serven, hitting .276 with some decent defensive perks. And I assume they're trying to go forward with Alan Trejo after he gets off the IL, as he's a fun little piece. 

Building all this versatility and depth is a good thing for the Rockies, even at last in the NL West. Like the Diamondbacks, they're not bad in relation to the MLB, they're just bad in relation to the NL West, which is a start. They just need to retool their approach as the ends of this initial competitive team [Blackmon, Marquez, Freeland] begin to come loose. 

Coming Tonight: Nearly perfect, but he's been having his best season to date this year.