Colorado Rockies Outfield Battle: Week Three

In just under two weeks, we’ll be watching real live baseball games! And hopefully it will stop snowing, so we don’t have to postpone half those games to random Mondays in August. Roster cuts continue, and our friend Raimel Tapia is no longer around to destroy pitches in Arizona. But most of us didn’t think he had a real chance at the opening day roster, so that’s no great loss.

Who is left? Pretty much the people you’d expect. Let’s check in on them and see how they did this week.

Brandon Barnes

Spring Training: 38 AB | 11 H | 3 R | 3 XBH | 4 RBI | 2 BB | 13 K | .289/.325/.421                                      Week Three: 14 AB | 5 H | 3 R | 3 XBH | 3 RBI | 0 BB | 3 K | .357/.357/.714

Barnes had a terrific week, notching two triples and going 3-for-3 with 2 RBI in Saturday’s game against the Padres. He’s peaking at the right time, though his role with the 2016 club still isn’t in question. Hopefully he can carry this surge into the regular season.

Charlie Blackmon

Spring Training: 33 AB | 8 H | 7 R | 3 XBH | 4 RBI | 9 BB | 5 K | .242/.419/.455                                         Week Two: 12 AB | 2 H | 4 R | 2 XBH | 2 RBI | 4 BB | 3 K | .167/.375/.667

It was a bit of a down week for Blackmon batting average wise, but he walked four times, just two less than anyone else has all spring. He also found his power stroke, as both his hits went over the fence. We don’t necessarily expect Blackmon to hit home runs, but it’s fun when he does. As usual, folks can’t say enough about Blackmon’s work ethic, so I expect him to keep contributing significantly.

Carlos Gonzalez

Spring Training: 38 AB | 8 H | 7 R | 3 XBH | 4 RBI | 1 BB | 7 K | .211/.231/.395                                          Week Two: 13 AB | 1 H | 2 R | 0 XBH | 2 RBI | 0 BB | 1 K | .077/.077/.077

Cargo was essentially a no-show this week, so his trend of being hot or not continues. The best we can hope is that he gets hot at the right time (i.e. July).

Kyle Parker

Spring Training: 26 AB | 5 H | 4 R | 1 XBH | 2 RBI | 1 BB | 10 K | .192/.222/.231                                           Week Two: 8 AB | 1 H | 0 R | 0 XBH | 0 RBI | 0 BB | 3 K | .125/.125/.125

Parker’s time is coming to a close quickly. Luckily he seems to have a decent attitude about it. Bench work is surely in his future, if anything is, so hopefully he can maintain that.

Gerardo Parra

Spring Training: 38 AB | 12 H | 10 R | 4 XBH | 8 RBI | 4 BB | 7 K | .316/.381/.526                                          Week Two: 16 AB | 6 H | 7 R | 4 XBH | 6 RBI | 1 BB | 2 K | .375/.412/.875

Parra finally caught fire this week. Like Blackmon, he figured out how to hit for power and then homered twice, but unlike Blackmon, he also hit very well for average this week. He played like the middle-of-the-order guy I would hope he can be. Since lineup spot is probably the only thing that’s still in question for Parra, it will be interesting to see where Walt Weiss decides to slot him. He’s batted up and down the lineup this spring, but his primary spot has been lead-off. I’m not sure of the reason for that, other than that he’s hit more from that spot in his career than anywhere else. His versatility in that regard is a plus for him, though.

Check in next Wednesday for one last look at the state of the outfield heading into the regular season.