As the Rockies wind down the 2015 season without hope of playing beyond game 162, several key veterans are pushing for personal records, accolades and paydays, while some are fighting for their future as Rockies.
In this week’s edition of “Three Up, Three Down,” we examine which vets have made a statement as the clock winds down, and who should be checking their watch heading into next year.
One Up: Nolan Arenado
It should go without saying, at this point, that Arenado is officially a bonafide superstar in Major League Baseball. The question of whether or not his bat could ever catch up to his glove has been answered without a shadow of a doubt.
Arenado heads into Wednesday’s game against Arizona tied with Bryce Harper for the NL lead in home runs (41) and with a comfortable lead on Paul Goldschmidt for the RBI crown. His slugging percentage is second behind Harper, his OPS is sixth in the NL at .889 and he’s top-10 in hits, runs and doubles. He leads the NL in extra base hits (84) and total bases (340).
In his last seven games he’s added two home runs and 13 RBI and his friendly rivalry with teammate Carlos Gonzalez has kept the two of them chasing Harper and one another in most offensive categories.
By staying consistent throughout the season, including through these difficult last few weeks of a lost season, Arenado has cemented himself as a leading MVP candidate heading into 2016 and the clear face of the franchise.
Arenado is arbitration eligible after this year. If the Rockies don’t make him a big offer, which includes shoring up their pitching staff, the fan base won’t be happy after seeing the former face of the franchise, Troy Tulowitzki, leave town in July.
One Down: Kyle Kendrick
In this week’s edition of “Three Up, Three Down,” we examine which vets have made a statement as the clock winds down, and who should be checking their watch heading into next year.
One Down: Kyle Kendrick
Tabbed as an innings eater who would keep the Rockies in games so the offense could power the club to victories, Kyle Kendrick has been everything but as advertised. To be more blunt, Kendrick’s tenure with Colorado has been nothing short of a disaster.
He will enter his final start (assuming he gets one more) with an unlucky 13 losses attached to his name in 2015. In what would be his 27th start on the year, Kendrick needs a win or a no decision to avoid having lost in more than 50 percent of his starts on the year. His 6.54 ERA is the worst among Rockies starters and nearly a full point-and-a-half higher than the club ERA, which is an MLB-worst 5.07.
His ERA in September (after missing all of August) was an improved 7.04, compared to his July ERA of 8.47. He has picked up two of his six wins in September, the only real positive of the year – if that can even be considered a positive.
A free agent next year, Kendrick will most certainly not be coming back to pitch at altitude in 2016. The real question with Kendrick is whether or not manager Walt Weiss will march him out one last time. With Eddie Butler and Jon Gray shut down for the year, Weiss may have to.
Two Up: Justin Morneau
In this week’s edition of “Three Up, Three Down,” we examine which vets have made a statement as the clock winds down, and who should be checking their watch heading into next year.
Two Up: Justin Morneau
What Justin Morneau has done since returning from a 103-day layoff related to head injuries is nothing short of amazing for the 13-year veteran.
In 18 games in September, Morneau is hitting .351 with three doubles and two triples. Over his past seven games, he’s hitting a scorching .429.
The late-season surge has been a redemption of sorts for Morneau, whose future with the club could be in jeopardy. The Rockies clearly want to find more ways to get Wilin Rosario’s bat into the lineup, and Ben Paulsen proved during Morneau’s absence to be a nearly identical (and much cheaper) player as the former-Twin. Morneau is due $6 million in 2016, with a $750,000 buyout.
Morneau is making a strong case that he should stick around in 2016, but with two capable bodies behind him, general manager Jeff Bridich will have a tough decision on his hands.
Two Down: John Axford
In this week’s edition of “Three Up, Three Down,” we examine which vets have made a statement as the clock winds down, and who should be checking their watch heading into next year.
Two Down: John Axford
John Axford couldn’t have had a better start to the 2015 season. He was perfect on 12 save opportunities and sported a 1.31 ERA between Opening Day and June 20. But from June 24 through July 30, Axford amassed a 2-5 record with five blown saves and an 11.17 ERA.
He has since rebounded in the saves column, converting seven of eight chances in September to put him at 25 for the year. Hut his ERA for the month sits at 4.50 and he’s allowed five earned runs and five walks in his last seven appearances – mostly the result of a bad outing against Pittsburgh in which he allowed four earned runs while recording just one out.
Nevertheless, Axford, who signed a one-year minor league contract with the Rockies in February, has likely upped his value from the $2.6 million he’ll earn in 2015, despite the shaky stretch between June and July. Will the Rockies invest in him again? They’re already on the hook for $6.25 million for Boone Logan in 2016.
Jairo Diaz has looked sharp, minus his own rough outing the night after Axford’s against Pittsburgh. With a heavy fastball that runs in the high 90s, the Rockies might want to see what they have in Diaz as early as next year if Axford’s asking price climbs too high.
Three Up: Carlos Gonzalez
In this week’s edition of “Three Up, Three Down,” we examine which vets have made a statement as the clock winds down, and who should be checking their watch heading into next year.
Three Up: Carlos Gonzalez
Rewind to late May and Rockies fans were wondering if Carlos Gonzalez was officially washed up. He was hitting just .201 with five doubles and four home runs 40 games into the season. It was not until July 7 that he reached double-digit home runs and July 9 that his batting average eclipsed the .250 mark.
With just five games to play left in the season, Gonzalez is now just one home run shy of Bryce Harper and Nolan Arenado for the NL lead of 41. He’s sitting on 96 RBI and looks primed to eclipse the 100 threshold for only the second time in his career.
His July and August were sensational, having earned Player of the Month in the former with 11 home runs and a .386 average while the looming departure of fellow All-Star Troy Tulowitzki hung over the team.
Since Tulowitzki’s trade to Toronto, Gonzalez has compiled 20 home runs and 45 RBI and appears to have taken burgeoning superstar Nolan Arenado under his wing. The friendly rivalry between the two has been one of the few highlights of the second half of the season and send a resounding message to the front office and the fans that Gonzalez will be and should be a part of the long-term future of the club.
Three Down: Jose Reyes
In this week’s edition of “Three Up, Three Down,” we examine which vets have made a statement as the clock winds down, and who should be checking their watch heading into next year.
Three Down: Jose Reyes
Jose Reyes all but sealed his future in Denver back in August when he told The Denver Post, “I don’t want to spend the rest of my career on a last-place team.”
“We’ll see what happens here,” he continued later in the interview. “But in the next couple years, I don’t want to waste my time like that.”
The question now is what Colorado can get for the aging shortstop who recently missed four straight games with a sore Achilles, including all three of a three-game sweep of the Dodgers to end the home schedule over the weekend. Reyes is owed $22 million for each of the next three years, so the last thing the Rockies need when trying to move Reyes is questions about his health.
Reyes is still a vastly better everyday player than Daniel Descalso or Cristhian Adames, and Trevor Story has yet to prove he can consistently hold down the shortstop position at the minor league level, let alone the big leagues, so Colorado may find itself in a bit of a bind with the discontented veteran.
The situation with Reyes will undoubtedly be the biggest one to watch over the offseason. GM Jeff Bridich must secure enough pitching to placate the four-time All-Star, or find a way to move him before the season starts. There’s absolutely no reason to start a season with an unhappy veteran in such an important role.