Did The Colorado Rockies Really Just Have A Good Road Trip?

Sep 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies left fielder R. Ynoa (43), third baseman N. Arenado (28), relief pitcher G. Germen (62) and first baseman W. Rosario (20) leave the field after the sixteenth inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Rockies won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies just went 5-5 on their ten-game road trip. Has the sky fallen? Is the world ending? What the hell is going on around here?

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Have my eyes deceived me, or am I honestly seeing a 5-5 mark on the Colorado Rockies’ schedule for their last ten-game road trip to San Diego, Seattle, and Los Angeles?

Throw the records out, folks; this Rockies club deserves a playoff spot for going .500 on a long road trip, because that hasn’t happened in at least 57 years.

Ok, that actually hasn’t happened in six years, but that’s still impressive. Remember, this is a team that went 21-60 (21 and freakin’ 60!!!) on the road in 2014, and they’ve already surpassed that this year with a handful of road games left on the slate.

No, a 30-45 road record is nothing to brag about, but it is a notable improvement from the last few years. Entering play Friday, the Rockies had only the ninth-worst road record in all of baseball (henceforth referred to as the 21st-best road record), despite being saddled with the third-worst overall record in the game.

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A few things obviously stand out about that: first, the Colorado Rockies are uncharacteristically struggling at home this year. Even for this club, Coors Field is typically a safe haven where the Rox feast on visitors’ poor pitching before heading out on the road and being on the wrong end of a two-hit shutout.

That hasn’t been the case this year, as visitors to Coors have experienced far more success — no doubt in part because the Rockies’ pitching staff is awful — to the point where the Rox need to go undefeated on this 9-game home stand just to finish above .500.

But the pitching staff is usually always awful; it was awful in 2014 and the Rox still picked up 45 home wins. It as awful in 2013 and the Rox still picked up 45 home wins. It was awful in 2012 and the Rockies got 35 home wins, and it struggled in 2011 and the Rox got 38 home wins.

The 2015 club sits at just 31 home wins with nine games to go — including three against Pittsburgh and three more with Los Angeles — that may very well make it impossible for them to match the 2012 clubs’s home mark.

[ Related: Good for Kyle Kendrick, who’s ending the year on a high note ]

The other thing — and maybe more important here — that stands out for the Rockies is this surprising not-great-but-much-better-than-expected road record. Is this club actually showing growth or — gasp — development with how they adjust to road ballparks, sea level stadiums, and visitor’s clubhouses away from the friendly confines (of Coors Field)? Amazing!

Again, this can easily be a one-off, and the team could be awful on the road again next season. They could also get swept in their final six road games to end the year, finish at 30-51 away from Coors Field, and that would look a lot less appealing than their current 30-45 split.

But right now, today, I see the Colorado Rockies’ road record and I think, wow. Not bad, you guys. Not bad. Ahhh, the soft bigotry of low expectations.

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