The Colorado Rockies dropped the final game of their season-long 10-game road trip, missing out on a chance to match an all-time franchise wins mark for a trip of that length. Still, the trip was a resounding success across the board. Not only did Colorado win all three series, they put up some impressive numbers that bode well for the weeks ahead.
In honor of their 10 games in 10 days, we offer up 10 key stats that should have you excited as the Rockies return home to Coors Field.
7-3
Wins and losses. When all 162 games are done being played, that’s the only thing that truly matters. And so by winning seven of the 10 games on this lengthy trip, the Rockies took a major step forward in establishing themselves as legitimate contenders in the National League West.
It’s only the third time in franchise history that Colorado has finished 7-3 or better on a road trip of 10 or more games. In 2009 they went 8-3 on an 11-game trip to open the month of June, and in 1997 they went 7-3 over 10 games in September. In both seasons they finished above .500 and in ’09 they went to the playoffs. That bodes well for the 2017 squad who was an extra-innings bloop single away from taking eight of 10 games over the past 10 days.
42
No baseball fan will ever forget the number 42, worn by the legendary Jackie Robinson. That number also represents the current RBI total for Charlie Blackmon, which happens to be the best in the majors. Blackmon reached the 40-RBI plateau on May 23, setting a new record for the fastest player to reach that mark hitting out of the leadoff spot.
Blackmon is putting up power numbers that rival one of baseball’s all-time great dual-thread leadoff hitters, and his was a major catalyst during the road trip. Over the 10 games, Blackmon hit .370 with three home runs, two doubles, two stolen bases and 11 runs scored and 15 RBI. He was a one-man wrecking crew against the Phillies and currently leads all of baseball in RBIs, hits and triples.
3.32
Colorado is presently middle of the road when it comes to staff ERA. At 4.14, they rank 14th in Major League Baseball. However, they improved that number considerably during the road trip by posting a combined staff ERA of 3.32 over the 10 games.
The starters were particularly impressive, finishing with a 2.72 ERA over 59.2 innings pitched. Tyler Chatwood and Tyler Anderson, the current veterans on the staff (that term is used loosely with Anderson), have been inconsistent throughout the season but each had strong outings to close the road trip and build confidence coming back to Coors Field.
1.2
Closer Greg Holland continued to build on his MLB-best saves total during the road trip, adding another three to his total. His 19 saves is currently six ahead of his closest competition, Cody Allen (CLE) and Ken Giles (HOU). While his save total is impressive – they mean the Rockies are winning, and winning close games – they’re also a reason to be slightly cautious.
Holland is coming off a full season missed due to Tommy John surgery and has already compiled 18.2 innings pitched this season. One of the best results from this road trip was the fact that Holland was needed only three times in Colorado’s seven wins, and that he needed to throw only 1.2 innings to earn those three saves. Holland got some important rest while the bats and the rest of the pen carried the load.
62
You don’t have to be trained in the metric system to do the easy math that tells us the Rockies averaged 6.2 runs per game on this road trip. Scoring 62 total runs over 10 games, Colorado moved up to second place in all of baseball in total runs scored. They outpaced their season average of 5.08 by more than a full run per game.
Offense has never really been a problem for Colorado, but the Rockies didn’t get out to their typical hot start as they’ve done in many years past. Pitching buoyed them through April and the bats have come around in May. They’ll be a dangerous team all year long if they can keep scoring six-plus runs per game and holding opponents around four.
.390
Critics will look at the overall season batting average for Carlos Gonzalez and say the slugger is on the decline and the Rockies need to consider moving him, especially because he’s in the last year of his contract. Astute observers will isolate these past 10 games and recognize the 16 hits CarGo pounded out during the series to the tune of a .390 average and remember that he always starts to heat up in late May or early June.
Gonzalez is the unequivocal leader of the Colorado clubhouse. His tenure there outlasts every other player, his manager and his GM. The fact that he got off to a slow start is no surprise. And although it was slower than usual, CarGo is coming around and will continue to contribute offensively and with stellar defense, just as he’s always done.
7.8
Were it not for a 10-strikeout game in the series finale with Philadelphia, this number would have been even more impressive. Over the 10-game road trip, Colorado struck out an average of 7.8 times per game. (An 11-strikout performance in a loss to the Twins hurt the number as well.) Believe it or not, that actually improved on their average for the season.
Heading into this road trip, Colorado was going down on strikes an average of 8.8 times per game. They currently rank fifth in baseball in total strikeouts, so cutting down that number will be important as the season wears on. You can’t score runs if you don’t put the ball in play; the Rockies have to continue to improve in this department if they want to be contenders.
One
It had to happen at some point. Nolan Arenado was going to commit an error this season. It turns out it would come in the 44th game of the season for the four-time Gold Glove winner. Coincidentally, it was in his 44th game in 2016 when he committed his first error. That season worked out pretty well in the field for Arenado, who has his best season ever defensively.
In 2016, Arenado compiled a .973 fielding percentage on 490 chances. He’s on pace to better those numbers this year at .992 on 132. He’s recorded more assists and started more double plays than any other third baseman in the National League. An error was bound to happen, but it’s nothing to worry about.
1:3
Trevor Story returned to the Rockies lineup after a stint on the disabled list and immediately looked better than his .180 batting average up to that point would indicate. Story appears to have recovered from the left shoulder strain that landed him on the DL, but more importantly he looks more comfortable at the plate.
Story homered in Thursday’s series finale against the Phillies, but what was more impressive is that he compiled a 1:3 strikeout to walk ratio in two starts. Prior to his stint on the DL, he had struck out 48 times and walked only 17 times. Strikeouts have been his biggest weakness in the early part of his career, so it was nice to see him working counts and having productive at-bats.
Zero
Colorado lost three games on this road trip, but they did something very important compared to the other successful 10-plus game road trips in franchise history. They didn’t lose two games in a row. In both ’97 and ’09, the Rockies took the three losses in each of those series in succession. On this trip, each loss was isolated.
So far in 2017, Colorado has only lost two or more games in succession four times. They have lost three games in a row only once. Great teams don’t allow losses to turn into losing streaks, and so far this Rockies club is doing just that. They’ll need a win against the Cardinals on Friday to keep that trend in place.