The Colorado Rockies are coming out of a four-game home sweep against the Atlanta Braves, and are preparing to face the most-important stretch of their schedule.
The Rox currently sit at 47-51 on the season, just four games under .500, and are still within striking distance of the final wild card spot.
Now, with momentum on their side, they are ready to embark on 17 games against playoff caliber clubs.
“We turned a page like we always do,” manger Walt Weiss said. “We have got a tough road trip ahead of us, so we have to go east and play well.”
These next few weeks will define the Rockies’ season, and prove one way or another whether they’re ready to take the next step as a franchise.
They are set to take on the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles, the defending National League champion New York Mets, the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers, the ever-improving Miami Marlins and the surging Texas Rangers.
That’s a murder’s row.
Everything seems to be trending in the right direction for the squad — the offense is clicking, the starting pitchers have held their own and the bullpen has done a fine job — but they’ll have to prove they can do it against playoff-level teams, not just the Atlanta Braves.
“We’ve got a lot of options in there,” Rockies relief man Jake McGee said about the bullpen heading into the east-coast trip. “It’s going to be nice for us to mix and match. Going into tomorrow, we are going to have a pretty fresh bullpen.”
The sweep of the Braves, no matter how weak of an opponent they may be, has brought a tremendous amount of confidence to the Rox clubhouse.
“We took care of business (at home),” Rockies rookie Trevor Story said. “Hopefully we can keep the momentum going and play some good games on the road.”
A winning record on this road trip could put the Rockies in the middle of the playoff hunt, and it will most definitely prove this team is different from years past.
