At one point in the Rockies’ recent skid, the bats disappeared and the team went nineteen straight innings without scoring a run.
“It’s obvious it isn’t the bullpen, and it isn’t the starting rotation that’s killing them. It’s the lack of offense,” former Rockies announcer Wayne Hagin told Gil Whiteley, Mark Jackson and Benjamin Allbright on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7. “That’s against two teams that, at times this year, they’ve handled.”
During that scoreless skid, the Rockies have lost four in a row, only scoring six runs total across the four games and giving up 15 runs. That comes off of a 16-0 lopsided beat-down of the Padres at home that saw the team win eight out of 10 games.
“The thing that bothers me most is [that] this is supposed to be such an explosive offense,” Hagin said. “How they cannot even ignite is beyond question. I just don’t understand.” The Rockies’ offense has been up and down all season. Despite being second in the league in batting average (.271), the Rockies have batted .269 and .259 in August and September, respectively. They’ve also scored the fewest runs of the season in the last two months, 117 and 91, respectively.
Despite the Rockies’ recent slide, things in the Wild Card race have been working in their favor, thanks to the Milwaukee Brewers’ bumpy series against the Chicago Cubs.
“What about the Brewers’ side of this story? How they keep losing,” Hagin said. “All this opportunity for them, that the Rockies have given them, and they just can’t take advantage. So this could go down to the final day.”
The Rockies will need to find some solutions to their offense quickly. They’ll finish the series with the Padres before returning home to face the Miami Marlins and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hagin thinks the next two series could be dangerous for a Rockies team hoping to back themselves into a Wild Card spot.
“I look forward to next week. The Marlins come to town playing for the end of the season but, they’re relaxed,” Hagin explained. “Then, the Dodgers come to town, and what do they need? They need the home field advantage. They need to take that from the Nationals, so every win’s going to mean something to them. They’re going to be pushing hard, because they’ve already gone through their tough stretch.”
The Rockies look to right the ship against the Padres over the weekend to wrap up their final road series of the regular season.
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