The Colorado Rockies have toyed with the emotions of people all around baseball through 157 games. Early on, the Rockies looked like a powerhouse team in the National League, but they came back down to earth as the season progressed — and now find themselves with their backs against the wall with just five games left to play this season.
Colorado’s wild-card lead sits at just 1.5 games over the Milwaukee Brewers and 2.5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s no secret; the Rockies need to play better. Colorado’s offense has been boom-or-bust for the better part of a month now. The Rockies’ hitters desperately need to elevate their game to help push the club over the top. Offense is Colorado’s bread and butter. While the pitching has held their own for a majority of the season, hitting is Colorado’s X-factor.
Regardless of what has happened to date, the fact of the matter is Colorado’s most important games are still ahead of them, and the team is looking to finish what they started back in the springtime.
“Finish business,” veteran Carlos Gonzalez said of the remainder of the season. “We have an opportunity to clinch here in front of our home crowd. That’s what we want to do. We want to play good baseball, take care of business, and finish what we started.”
Every pitch, hit, and decision could mean the difference from playing in the postseason or watching from the couch for the Rockies.
The tension of playing meaningful games can be either a blessing or burden for many teams, but for the Colorado Rockies, that might very well be valuable for them as the pressure continues to boil.
“You want that nervous energy. You want that adrenaline; that’s what makes the game fun,” All-Star closer Greg Holland said. “If you’re out there in a playoff race with no heartbeat, what’s the fun in that? That’s not why we play the game. I think you have to be able to [handle] that and use that adrenaline to your advantage.”
Colorado is looking to build momentum at the season’s most crucial point. Two consecutive series losses, paired with a frustrating game against the Miami Marlins on Monday night, have Rockies fans spinning in circles looking for answers.
However, as their lead narrows, facing that adversity could result in newfound success for a Rockies club that is seeking to make the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade.
“I think that’s a mark of all good teams. Shortening those windows when you struggle because you aren’t always going to play great baseball,” Holland said, noting that the Rockies play their best baseball with their backs against the wall. “You’ve got to understand — that’s why you play 162 games instead of 50. This is a weird game, where you’ve got to let the cream kind of rise over the course of a long season, and we understand that. These guys come to the yard refreshed, no matter what happened the day before. We don’t ride too high on the highs or too low on the lows, and I think that level-headedness is going to bode well for us.”
It all comes down to this: the final NL Wild Card spot is well within reach for all three teams thanks to the way the Rockies have played recently, but it’s worth noting that after all that Colorado has been through this season, the rush of trying to finish the fight is what might carry them to the postseason and possibly beyond.