Colorado Rockies: The franchise all-time bracket
By Bill Felber
Colorado Rockies: The All-Time Bracket
No. 4 vs. 5 seed
The 2017 Rockies only finished third in the NL West, but qualified for the wild card game, which they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks. As usual, there was hitting.
Third baseman Nolan Arenado batted .309 with 37 homers and 130 RBIs. Outfielder Charlie Blackmon hit .331 with 37 homers and 104 RBIs, while infielder D J LeMahieu and outfielder Gerardo Parra also topped .300.
The pitching staff had four double-digit winners but no standouts, German Marques leading with an 11-7 record in 29 starts. Greg Holland saved 41 games.
The 1995 team reached post-season play in only the franchise’s third season, finishing just one game behind Los Angeles in the NL West. They lost a four-game division series to the soon-to-be Atlanta Braves.
Bichette, fellow outfielder Larry Walker, second baseman Eric Young, and third baseman Vinny Castilla all topped .300, and Bichette added 40 homers plus 128 RBIs. He too was second in MVP voting, in Bichette’s case behind Reds shortstop Barry Larkin.
The pitching was what Rockies fans would come to expect. Kevin Ritz led with an 11-11 record in 28 starts, and nobody else stood out. But it was good enough to allow the offense to operate.
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Game 1: The 2017 Rockies were 87-75, a .537 percentage that was one game better than 1995’s 77-67 .535.
Game 2: In postseason play the 1995 team lost a four-game division series. That’s good enough to beat the 2017 team, which lost its only post-season game.
Game 3: The 1995 Rockies had just a 94 team OPS+. That may not sound good, but it was four points better than the 2017 team’s 90 OPS+.
Game 4: The 1995 Rockies managed a 108mERA+. But the 2017 team had a 112 ERA+, evening this series at two games each.
Game 5: The 2017 club produced a 39.2 WAR. The 1995 club only managed a 34.9 WAR.
Game 6: The 2017 Rockies fielded .987, two points better than that season’s league average. In 1995 the Rockies fielded 1.981, just one point better than the league average.
Result: 2017 in six games