Colorado Rockies Tinder: Deep In The Heart Of Dixie

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Aug 23, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder C. Gonzalez (5) hits a home run during the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Coors Field. The Mets won 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies are in Atlanta right now, and with an off day Thursday, it’s the perfect time to take stock of the team over the past week (or more!).

Swipe Right On These Colorado Rockies

Charlie Blackmon. The center fielder is 10-for-29 with two home runs in the last seven days. He’s also doubled, stolen two bases, and only struck out once. He hit third in the lineup on Tuesday, in part because of CarGo’s absence while he was overcoming knee soreness.

Yohan Flande. Flande, who will start on Wednesday night in Atlanta, threw seven innings in his last start, which was a career high. He allowed two runs, though had he prevented the one pitch which led to the Nationals’ Michael Taylor‘s long home run, he easily could have thrown up another zero in the seventh — and/or continued further in the game. He’ll get the Rockies’ rubber game start in Atlanta Wednesday night.

Carlos Gonzalez. The righty was out of the lineup on Tuesday night — a game which the Rockies won anyways — but he’s still slashing .300/.391/.650 over the past week. His hot streak goes well beyond the week, though; he’s done it long-term (and hit the most home runs in the big leagues since June 1), and done it mid-term (the most home runs in the big leagues since the All Star Break).

Matt McBride. McBride was very cold when he came up to the Rockies a couple weeks ago, but in the last seven days, the Lehigh University product has knocked five hits and only struck out once. It’s only a matter of time until the power comes, and he’ll get the chance to do it, especially considering CarGo’s recent string of knee soreness and some slots of time open in the outfield come September.

Simon Castro and Jairo Diaz. The two new relievers joined the Rockies on Sunday and promptly have combined to toss four scoreless innings between them. Diaz may be a bigger prospect than Castro, and Jairo certainly has a better future than Simon (who is destined to become a free agent after the year), but both guys are deserving of a sustained big league shot, and this is the first part of that test.

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Jul 31, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop J. Peralta (27) rounds third base after hitting a two-run home run off of Colorado Rockies relief pitcher C. Friedrich (53) at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Swipe Left On These Colorado Rockies

Christian Friedrich. The last 30 games haven’t been kind to Friedrich. Twelve appearances, ten innings, ten runs on 17 hits and seven walks, and just three strikeouts to his name. He leads the Rockies in games in 2016, but he’s fading very quickly and could use the September call-up reinforcements, like fellow lefty Kenny Roberts.

Jose Reyes. This isn’t for on-field reasons (Reyes is actually playing pretty well), but more for the comments he made about not wanting to play for the Rockies, and instead hoping to be able to play for a winner. We get it, man. But you’ve been here for three weeks. Come off it for a minute or two before you start complaining, eh?

Chris Rusin. It’s not possible to have a worse start than Chris Rusin did against the Mets this week. He became the only pitcher in big league history to allow nine extra base hits while not recording more than six outs. A very, very bad start in an otherwise very solid season.

David Hale. The former Atlanta Braves’ farmhand never made it back to the ATL to visit his old team; he was sent back down to AAA Albuquerque on Monday to make rom for Chad Bettis, who threw five innings of one-run ball last night. Hale will likely be back up when rosters expand, but after a strong start to the year, he’s faded quickly.

DJ LeMahieu. LeMahieu had a big day on Tuesday night, but before that, he had gone just 3-for-20 over his previous six games, slumping badly and leaving the Rockies without a reliable contact threat to take the ball the other way in Coors Field’s expansive outfield gaps. LeMahieu’s been streaky this year, but he’s still hitting well overall (.314/.369/.403) in his breakout campaign.

The pitching staff. Why front? Why even put separate pitchers up here. Besides Flande, Diaz & Castro, Jorge De La Rosa (mostly) and Scott Oberg, almost everybody else who’s thrown for the Rockies lately has been cold — but the bullpen hasn’t allowed a run in THREE games now!

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