One of the surprises of the National League in 2017, the Colorado Rockies rode solid pitching and timely hitting to the postseason. Can that formula work again in 2018?
Typically, when one pictures the Colorado Rockies and Coors Field, it is an image of home runs flying through the thin Rocky Mountain air and pitchers wanting to commit seppuku on the mound for their failures. A team built around a solid pitching staff and timely hitting is not what anyone has come to expect from the Rockies.
However, that was the formula last season. The Rockies led the National League in runs, but ranked only tenth in the National League with 195 home runs, a surprisingly low number, especially in the Year of the Home Run. Only four players had more than 20 homers for the Rockies last year, with Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon leading the way with 37 longballs.
Meanwhile, the Rockies pitching staff became more than a batting practice machine. Their 4.51 team ERA was the sixth-best mark in franchise history, and their 1.381 WHiP was fifth. Those numbers were all the more impressive given that staff ace Jon Gray made only 20 starts in 2017, missing two and a half months with a broken bone in his left foot.
The Colorado Rockies face a tough task in the coming year, as the National League West has gotten stronger. Will their strategy from last year work once again, and keep the Rockies in the postseason?