Meanwhile, In The Basement

 

The Phillies, in Denver this week, feel like they've won the lottery. They already made quick work of the Pirates, they regained first place, and now they get to play the worst team in the majors. Only 8 wins to their name at the moment. Virtually no pitching, a handful of decent power hitters and a lot of mediocrity. The Rockies are already one manager down, and seeing as the new guy, Warren Schaeffer, is 1-6 at the moment, they may be going through more.

Here is how I best sum up the Rockies at the moment. Hunter Goodman is the team's best hitter. He's 25, and he's having a breakout year, hitting .292 with 7 homers, 29 RBIs and 11 doubles. I knew he'd factor into this season, as he got a lot of play last year off the bench. What I did not know was that he's a catcher. I assumed he was a corner infielder. No, his primary position is catcher. Meaning he made the team as starting catcher, Jacob Stallings made the team as backup, and Drew Romo, who many people consider to be the future of the team, is stuck in the minors rehabbing from an injury. Even when he does return to playing shape, which should be soon, he will be confined to Albuquerque. The Colorado Rockies, where literally the only person doing well is stopping the team from progressing. 

And look, you can say, truthfully, that big prospects like Romo, Zac Veen and Adael Amador haven't done shit in the majors. They really haven't. Veen got his shot in April, didn't do a thing and then Jordan Beck took his roster spot and hasn't looked back. Amador has been filling 2nd and is hitting .145 with a -1.0 WAR. Romo is trying, certainly, and if it weren't for that finger thing he'd accumulated after the team foolishly kept him back from the Opening Day roster he'd be factoring into things right now. But instead, in need of an extra catcher for a spell, the Rockies had to call up Braxton Fulford for a series or so, which must have been infuriating for Romo. 

At the very least the rotation has no shortage of starting opportunities, but it's guys like Chase Dollander, Bradley Blalock, Tanner Gordon and Carson Palmquist just thrust right into the ringer. Of course it's not gonna go well, you're not developing them properly, you're just trying to plug holes while the boat's missing a half. Dollander, through 8 starts, is 2-5 with a 6.28 ERA, and he's considered one of the team's better starters. Palmquist gave up 5 runs in his first start. Until the Rockies find a way of leveling their stadium and doing something with the air quality that prevents this sort of thing, these young pitchers are gonna keep getting killed like this. And this isn't a team that can just outhit the competition. These guys aren't exactly Bichette, Walker and Castilla.

The misery will likely keep going at this pace. The Rockies may challenge the White Sox' record they just set last year. Rob Manfred will once again ignore calls to do something to prevent against 110+ loss teams. And Drew Romo won't be the only person in Colorado with an overextended finger.

Coming Tonight: That's odd, usually the breakout hard-hitting infielders in Tampa aren't homegrown..