The Colorado Rockies’ inconsistencies in 2018 have been well-documented. A middling performance from the pitching staff combined with a historically bad offense could deliver much worse results than it has for the club, though.
Rockies broadcaster Jeff Huson spoke with Les Shapiro and Eric Goodman of Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 about those strengths and weaknesses that have landed the Rockies in first place in the NL West.
“First and foremost, I think it comes down to whenever they get a lead for the most part…Adam Ottavino and Wade Davis on the backside are able to win those games,” Huson said. “This year already out on the road they’ve won six games when they’ve scored two runs or less. You think about that for a moment and the history of the Rockies, you would have thought there’s no way.”
Despite the position atop the division, Colorado’s struggles at the plate cause reason for serious concern. Though the back end of the bullpen has been terrific, the inabilities of free-agent bats lessens the bullpen’s impact.
The team re-signed Carlos Gonzalez and brought back Chris Iannetta, but both are hitting in the low-.200s. Combined with Ian Desmond’s .181 batting average, and the team’s failure to find a replacement for D.J. LeMahieu while he’s injured, the back end of the lineup is hurting.
“That’s part of the issue this year with five through eight in the lineup, it’s not been consistent enough,” Huson said. “If you look across the board, they’re anywhere ranked between 24th and 30th in all of baseball as far as production.”
Still, the Rockies lead a struggling division and are above .500 towards the end of May. Huson credits lofty expectations heading into the year for fans’ overall disappointment with that start.
“It’s perfectly fine because the expectations going into the season were higher than what they’ve been,” Huson said. “I think that’s why people are saying, ‘Well, they’re just three games above .500,’ and they’re nitpicking. No, with expectations come hope. I still look at this season as you’re very hopeful that the offense will become more consistent and you go on the rolls where you win nine out of 10.”
Click below to listen to the full interview with Huson, including how his career statistics stack up with some of this year’s players.
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Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.