The Road Back To .500

Entering tonight’s game against the San Diego Padres, the Colorado Rockies sit at 43-47 on the season. They are still, somehow, 4.5 games out of first place. Therefore they are still in the hunt, which means we can seek small victories in the hopes that they will generate some momentum.

Yes, that dreaded word, momentum. But let’s face it, the NL West may be there for the taking if a team can run off 15 of 20 or something like that. Just look at the Dodgers and how they climbed back into the middle of the standings.

Hey, the Rockies won. Image: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Noting as much, here is the goal for the Rockies: get back to .500 entering the All-Star break. They are four games below the .500 mark and they have six games left until the All-Star break. They play the Padres twice more and then play a four game series at the aforementioned Dodgers. Here is the road back to .500, laid out in four steps.

Sweep the Padres

Jhoulys Chacin pitches tonight and Jorge De La Rosa pitches tomorrow night. The Padres have lost ten straight. Home or away, these are games the Rockies have to win. With that in mind…

Sit Carlos Gonzalez tonight and tomorrow night

Give his finger/hand injury an extra night of rest and have him ready for the Dodgers series. If ever this team had a chance to win without three of its four best players, it’s against the Padres with their two best pitchers slated to start. Take the chance and get CarGo healthy, then trot him back out there with his good buddy Dexter Fowler on Thursday night. Tonight’s lineup indeed has CarGo on the bench; Walt Weiss should make that move again tomorrow night.

 Take a timeout from Tyler Colvin

Charlie Blackmon is finally back on the roster. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire during his stint with the Rockies earlier this season, but he certainly outperformed Colvin and his sub-.200 average. He is also at least an average outfielder defensively, which would be a welcome sight given the last week of games. Colvin is in left tonight, and once Fowler returns this point is moot. Still, please give any spot starts to Blackmon and Corey Dickerson.

Split the series with the Dodgers

Somehow, some way, find a way to win two games in LA. Given the recent surge of the Dodgers and the recent failures of the Rockies, that would be a huge accomplishment. Friday night Clayton Kershaw starts for the Dodgers, so we’ll just rule that out. Thursday night, on the other hand, has Chris Capuano opposite the Rockies.

Win that game, win one over the weekend when either Tyler Chatwood or Chacin pitches, and life will be pretty grand at 47-47 in what has been an up-and-down first half of the season.