Colorado Rockies: Review of the Regular Season and Rocktober

The Colorado Rockies have reached the MLB postseason following each of the past two regular seasons, however, they only have one playoff win during this time.  As a certain franchise player is nearing free agency, there are offseason moves that need to be made to return to Rocktober for the third straight season.

Jeff Bridich has been with the Colorado Rockies organization in various roles since December of 2004, but he has only been the general manager since October of 2014.  During this time, the Rockies have improved in the win column each season (68 wins in 2015, 75 wins in 2016, 87 wins in 2017, and 91 wins in 2018).

After the Rockies failed to reach the postseason in 2015 and 2016, they moved on from manager Walt Weiss to bring in a more experienced manager in Bud Black.  During Black’s first season as manager in 2017, the team had both their first 85-plus win season and their first postseason appearance since 2009.

Prior to the 2017 season, the Rockies added Ian Desmond (five years, $70 million), Mike Dunn (three years, $19 million), Greg Holland (one year, $7 million), and Alexi Amarista (one year, $1.25 million).  They also signed Mark Reynolds to a minor league contract and he went on to collect 30 HRs and 97 RBI for the Rockies in 2017.

The team also cut ties with former first round pick Eddie Butler by trading him to the Chicago Cubs for James Farris and international bonus money.  During the season, the team acquired Pat Neshek and Jonathan Lucroy to help down the stretch run, traded away Miguel Castro (he was acquired in the Troy Tulowitzki trade), and released Jordan Lyles (another former first round pick).

Despite these moves to improve the team, the Rockies were eliminated from the postseason when they lost the NL Wild Card game to the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Nonetheless, Bridich and the rest of the front office were determined to further retool the team through free agency ahead of the 2018 season.

After a disappointing ending to the 2017 season, the Colorado Rockies front office made aggressive moves with hopes of winning the division in order to avoid the entire season coming down to another one game Wild Card playoff.

Despite a .310 average and a .429 on-base percentage from Lucroy through 46 games with the Rockies in 2017, the organization went another way at catcher.  Also, despite a .352 on-base percentage and a .487 slugging percentage from Reynolds through 148 games, the team chose to use the high-priced Desmond at first base in 2018.

Even though Holland was able to compile 41 saves to tie the Rockies franchise saves record in 2017, the organization chose to look elsewhere for a closer after he put up a 6.38 ERA in the second half of the season.  After the bullpen as a whole compiled to finish 20th in the MLB with a 4.40 ERA, the Rockies chose to spend quite a bit of money on the bullpen ahead of 2018.

For example, prior to the 2018 season, the Rockies added Wade Davis (three years, $52 million), Jake McGee (three years, $27 million), Bryan Shaw (three years, $27 million), Chris Iannetta (two years, $8.5 million), and Carlos Gonzalez (one-year, $5 million).  Tyler Chatwood, Holland, Lucroy, Reynolds, and Neshek all departed in free agency.

After an 8-15 win-loss record in 2017 with a 4.69 ERA, Chatwood was able to secure a three-year, $38 million contract with the Cubs.  After Holland declined his one-year, $15 million vested player option with the Rockies for 2018 in search of a larger payday, he was only able to secure a one-year, $14 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lucroy ended up signing a one-year, $6.5 million contract with the Oakland Athletics.  Reynolds ultimately went through free agency without a contract before agreeing to a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals midway through the month of April.  Neshek returned to the Philadelphia Phillies on a two-year, $16.25 million contract.

Even though most of the decisions by the Rockies front office to not bring back their five notable free agents turned out to be the right moves, their newly signed players provided mixed results.

Davis was signed to a massive contract in which he was guaranteed $52.0 million over three seasons and he played a large role in helping the team return to Rocktober.  During the first half of 2018, Davis put together a 3.72 ERA and a 1.112 WHIP alongside 27 saves through 41 games pitched.  During the second half, he put together a 4.73 ERA and a 0.975 WHIP alongside 16 saves through 28 games pitched.

Although the numbers outside of the saves total may not look impressive, Davis only allowed one run to score during his final 18.0 innings of the regular season.  During this time, he picked up 2 wins,11 saves, and 25 strikeouts while only allowing 7 hits and 2 walks.  This was an incredible performance down the stretch of the regular season by Davis and he proved why he was worth such a large contract.

On the other hand, the signings of McGee and Shaw were large disappointments.  McGee compiled a 6.49 ERA, a 4.91 FIP, and a 1.461 WHIP through 51.1 innings pitched.  Shaw compiled a 5.93 ERA, a 4.92 FIP, and a 1.793 WHIP through 54.2 innings pitched.  These two pitchers were both guaranteed $27 million a piece over three seasons, so they have not proven to be worthy of their contracts to this point.

Iannetta was not a large gamble for the Rockies as he is a veteran catcher that played as expected in 2018.  Through 110 games played, he provided 25 extra-base-hits, a .224 average and a .730 on-base plus slugging percentage.  Due to this, his guaranteed $8.5 million over two years was not a bad decision by the front office.

Gonzalez hoped to find a much larger contract prior to the start of the 2018 season, but much like Holland and Mike Moustakas, he did not have much luck as he had to settle for a one-year, $5 million contract.  Although Gonzalez did not reach the 25 HR and 100 RBI mark that he reached in 2016, he was able to put together 16 HRs and 64 RBI through 132 games in 2018.  Similar to Iannetta, this was a low risk signing that worked out for the Rockies.

Despite spending a large amount of money during the offseason, the Rockies made additional moves throughout the 2018 season.

Although their depth signings of David Holmberg, Brett Oberholtzer, and Santiago Casilla did not have an effect on the 2018 Rockies, there were three other moves that played a role in the team returning to Rocktober.  These moves involved former Rockies All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday, former Cardinals closer Seunghwan Oh, and a World Series champion in Drew Butera.

After a productive 2017 season with the New York Yankees, Holliday was unable to secure a contract during the offseason.  However, towards the end of July, Holliday signed a minor league contract with the Rockies.  This enabled him to eventually play 25 games at the MLB level in which he compiled 2 HRs alongside a .415 on-base percentage and a .434 slugging percentage.

As McGee and Shaw were not productive additions to the team, Oh provided a lot of stability in the bullpen after he was acquired prior to the July trade deadline.  Oh was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays for minor leaguers Chad Spanberger, Forrest Wall, and Bryan Baker.  After he was acquired, Oh pitched to a 2.53 ERA, a 3.86 FIP, and a 1.031 WHIP through 21.1 innings pitched.

Butera was a minor pick up that did not have as much of an impact as Holliday and Oh had for the Rockies.  Nonetheless, the team went 6-4 down the stretch in the 10 games that Butera played during September.  As the Rockies have a young pitching staff and as the six victories came against teams such as the San Francisco Giants, Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Nationals, his veteran presence coupled with his playoff experience cannot be taken for granted.

Although this was not a new acquisition, the Rockies made a franchise altering contract decision during the season.  Towards the beginning of April, the organization extended All-Star center fielder Charlie Blackmon by guaranteeing him $94 million in additional salary.  Barring a trade, this extension will keep Blackmon in Colorado through at least the 2021 season.  There are also two player options that give Blackmon the option to stay with the Rockies through 2023.

Although the offseason and midseason acquisitions helped shape the Rockies 2018 season, the emergence of the starting pitchers paved the way to Rocktober.

During the 2018 season, the Rockies only needed to use seven starting pitchers.  Kyle Freeland made 33 starts, German Marquez made 33 starts, Tyler Anderson made 32 starts, Jon Gray made 31 starts, Chad Bettis made 20 starts, Antonio Senzatela made 13 starts, and Jeff Hoffman made 1 start.

After a great rookie season in 2017 by Freeland, he followed it up with a season that will put him in Cy Young consideration.  During 2018, he compiled a 17-7 win-loss record with a 2.85 ERA, a 3.67 FIP, and a 1.245 WHIP.  In the National League, he finished 4th overall with an 8.2 WAR while also compiling a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Marquez also had a great rookie season in 2017 and followed it up with an incredible 2018 season.  During 2018, he compiled a 14-11 record with a 3.77 ERA, a 3.40 FIP, and a 1.204 WHIP.  He set a new Rockies franchise record for strikeouts with 230 over 196.0 innings pitched.  He also won the National League pitcher of the month for September after he went 3-1 in 5 starts with a 2.14 ERA and 48 strikeouts through 33.2 innings pitched.

Despite an incredibly rough month of August in which he compiled an 0-4 record with an 11.39 ERA, Anderson made 16 quality starts in 2018.  This included two back-to-back 8.0 inning efforts in which he allowed 0 earned runs against the Dodgers and the Giants.  This also includes a 7.2 inning, 0 earned run effort in-game 162 of the season to help the Rockies force a one game playoff to determine the winner of the NL West division.

Although Bettis and Senzatela pitched as both starters and relievers, they had their moments as starters for the Rockies in 2018.  As a starter, Bettis compiled a 5.28 ERA and a 1.413 WHIP alongside 7 quality starts.  Senzatela compiled a 3.95 ERA and a 1.301 WHIP alongside 4 quality starts.  Hoffman allowed 3 earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched during his only start of the season, however, the Rockies still won the game he started.

Gray had a very disappointing 2018 season after he was selected as the Wild Card game starter in 2017.  Through 172.1 innings pitched, he compiled a 12-9 record with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.346 WHIP.  Despite a trip to the minor leagues towards the beginning of July due to his poor earned run average, Gray held a stellar 3.05 FIP through the first half of the season and finished the season with a 4.08 FIP.

As the FIP stat shows what a pitchers ERA could look like based on league average results on balls in play and league average timing, there is hope that this season was just bad luck for Gray.  However, the soon-to-be 27-year-old pitcher saw his velocity dip a bit in 2018 compared to his career averages and also saw his pitch values decrease dramatically, so there is concern on if he will be able to rebound in 2019.

Although the Colorado Rockies received a tremendous amount of help from the starting rotation, they still received outstanding contributions from key pieces of the Blake Street Bombers.

Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado both put together seasons that will put them in contention for the 2018 National League MVP award.  Story compiled 85 extra base hits, 27 stolen bases, and 108 RBI alongside a .914 on-base plus slugging percentage.  Arenado compiled 78 extra base hits, 104 runs scored, and 110 RBI alongside a .935 on-base plus slugging percentage.

Although Charlie Blackmon struggled mightily on defense by posting a -2.7 dWAR, he was his normal self on offense.  Blackmon compiled 67 extra base hits, 70 RBI, and 119 runs scored alongside an .860 on-base plus slugging percentage.  The performances of Arenado, Blackmon, and Story earned them all a trip to the 2018 MLB All-Star game as the only Rockies representatives.

DJ LeMahieu missed some time with injuries this season, but he was still able to play in 128 games.  During those games, he compiled 49 extra base hits and 90 runs scored.  He put together his second highest WAR of his career at 3.0 while tying his career high in dWAR at 2.2.

Although Ian Desmond was only able to put together a .236 average and a .307 on-base percentage, he was able to compile 51 extra base hits, 20 stolen bases, 82 runs scored, and 88 RBI.  He also played in a team high 160 games while filling in at first base, left field, center field, shortstop, and designated hitter at various points of the season.

David Dahl only played in 77 regular season games due to injuries, but he was able to put together an .859 on-base plus slugging percentage.  During his 249 at-bats, he had 30 extra base hits, 31 runs scored, and 48 RBI.  Fellow outfielder Gerardo Parra put together a .714 on-base plus slugging percentage alongside 23 extra base hits, 52 runs scored, and 53 RBI through 401 at-bats.

The Rockies had a very successful overall 2018 regular season as they compiled enough victories to reach the postseason for the fifth time in franchise history.

The Colorado Rockies went 15-15 during the end of March and the full month of April.  The offense compiled 34 HRs, 38 2Bs, 110 RBI, 115 Rs, and 18 SBs through these 30 games.  The pitchers compiled a 4.52 ERA, a 1.327 WHIP, and 256 strikeouts through 263.0 innings.

At the end of the month of April, the Rockies found themselves 6.0 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West division.

They went 15-11 during the month of May.  The offense compiled 34 HRs, 39 2Bs, 115 RBI, 120 Rs, and 18 SBs through these 26 games.  The pitchers compiled a 4.27 ERA, a 1.321 WHIP, and 207 strikeouts through 234.0 innings.

After a solid month of May, the Rockies were able to overtake the Diamondbacks for a 0.5 game lead in the division.

They went 11-16 during the month of June.  The offense compiled 36 HRs, 56 2Bs, 148 RBI, 153 Rs, and 6 SBs through these 27 games.  The pitchers compiled a 6.20 ERA, a 1.564 WHIP, and 247 strikeouts through 241.0 innings.

The offense was spectacular during the month of June, but the pitching cost the team a lot of wins.  The starting pitching combined for a 5.37 ERA and a 1.408 WHIP while the relief pitching combined for a 7.78 ERA and a 1.860 WHIP in June.

Despite spending a large amount of money on the bullpen, they cost the Rockies a lot of leads during June which put the team 6.0 games behind the Diamondbacks heading into July.  The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants were both ahead of the Rockies by 3.5 games at this point as well.

However, the team showed resiliency and fought back to go 17-6 during the month of July.  The offense continued their torrid pace from June by compiling 34 HRs, 47 2Bs, 117 RBI, 122 Rs, and 12 SBs through these 23 games.  After a poor month of June, the pitching staff bounced back to compile a 3.16 ERA, a 1.169 WHIP, and 185 strikeouts through 205.1 innings.

This great month by both the offense and the pitching helped the Rockies overtake the Giants in the division standings.  This month also helped the Rockies create a three-way loss column tie with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers, but they remained 1.0 game back of each due to a difference in wins.

They went 14-14 during the month of August.  The offense dropped off a bit compared to June and July to compile 27 HRs, 42 2Bs, 107 RBI, 114 Rs, and 22 SBs through 28 games.  The pitchers compiled a 4.45 ERA, a 1.251 WHIP, and 250 strikeouts through 252.2 innings.

Following the month of August, the Rockies remained in a three-way loss column tie with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers, but they pulled within 0.5 games back of each.

They went 19-10 during the month of September and the first game in October.  During this time, the offense put up an incredible 45 HRs, 58 2Bs, 151 RBI, 156 Rs, and 19 SBs through 29 games.  The pitchers were also outstanding during September and the one game in October as they compiled a 3.27 ERA, a 1.213 WHIP, and 264 strikeouts through 256.1 innings.

The conclusion of the regular season put the Rockies 1.0 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West division, however, their performance was enough to reach the NL Wild Card game.

Although the thought of playing two one-game playoffs ahead of the National League Division Series is daunting, the Rockies had a unique opportunity to have two chances at reaching the next level of the MLB playoffs.

After the Rockies were defeated by the Diamondbacks in a one-game Wild Card playoff to end their 2017 season, the team had two chances to advance to the NL Division Series in 2018.  Their first chance came in-game 163 of the season to determine the winner of the NL West division and their second chance came in the Wild Card game to determine which Wild Card team will move on to the NLDS.

In game 163, the Rockies faced the Dodgers on the road in Los Angeles.  Luckily for the Rockies, their newly crowned strikeout king German Marquez was available to pitch on normal rest.  Through 4.2 innings pitched, he allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs while striking out 9 batters.

Unfortunately for Marquez, Walker Buehler only allowed 1 hit and 3 walks through 6.2 innings pitched without allowing a run.  Although Arenado and Story were able to each hit solo HRs to start the 9th inning against Kenley Jansen, it was too late for the offense to join in as the Rockies went on to lose the game 5-2.

This caused the Rockies to miss out on their first NL West division championship in franchise history.  However, as the Rockies still made it to the playoffs as the second NL Wild Card team.  The Cubs were the first NL Wild Card team by having a better record than the Rockies despite also losing a game 163 to the Milwaukee Brewers.

During the NL Wild Card game, Kyle Freeland and Jon Lester were locked into a pitchers duel.  Freeland was on three days rest and threw a masterful 6.2 innings pitched.  In those 6.2 innings, he only allowed 4 hits and 1 walk while keeping the Cubs offense off of the scoreboard.  Lester was on normal rest and he only allowed 1 earned run, 4 hits, and 1 walk through 6.0 innings pitched.  The 1 earned run came from a sacrifice fly by Arenado that scored Blackmon.

Unfortunately for the Rockies, relief ace Adam Ottavino surrendered a game tying two-run double to Javier Baez in the 8th inning after he escaped a game in the 7th inning.  Nonetheless, the team received a go ahead RBI single from a surprising source in Tony Wolters during the 13th inning.

Wade Davis and Seunghwan Oh pitched previously in the game, so the Rockies went with Scott Oberg to obtain the final three outs.  Oberg went on to strike out the side and obtain the victory in the game as he entered in the 12th to get the last out, which was also a strikeout.  This performance led the Rockies to their first NLDS appearance since 2009.

After losing the 2017 Wild Card game, the Rockies were thrilled to move on to the NLDS in 2018 despite losing game 163.  However, the team was now in a tough spot as their top two starting pitchers, Marquez and Freeland, were not available to pitch until games 3 and 4 of the NLDS.

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This, alongside the offense disappearing, caused the Rockies to be swept in the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers.  The offense compiled 14 hits through 96 at-bats for a .146 average.  The team was only able to put together 2 runs during the three games and they both came in the top of the ninth inning during game 1 to help force extra innings.

Nonetheless, Ottavino ended up taking the loss during game 1 in the 10th inning (final score,  3-2), Tyler Anderson took the loss in-game 2 (final score, 4-0), and Marquez took the loss in-game 3 (final score, 6-0).  Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado picked up the only two RBI while Arenado, Trevor Story, and Gerardo Parra were the only players to pick up more than 1 hit in the series.

Although the Rockies were unable to advance further in the playoffs, the future of this team is still bright.  If it was not for a very poor month of June, the team likely would have been able to become NL West champions as they only finished 1.0 games behind the Dodgers following the loss in the tie-breaking game 163.

This could have afforded rest to the team ahead of the NLDS, which would have also made Marquez and Freeland available to pitch in games 1 and 2.  The rest could have also potentially given the offense a chance to put together a better game plan against the tough postseason pitching they faced.

With young, talented players such as Freeland, Marquez, and Story under team control for many more years, the team has a very strong group of players to continue to build around.  Although Ottavino and LeMahieu are now free agents, Arenado is also still under team control for one more season.  The combination of Arenado, Story, Freeland, and Marquez should give Rockies fans hope as there is a possibility that the team could come back even stronger in 2019 as they will be on a mission to win the first NL West division championship in franchise history.