Colorado Rockies: 5 Things The Team Must Do Before All-Star Break

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Jul 7, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; General wide view of Coors Field during the seventh inning of the game between the Philadelphia Phillies against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies defeated the Phillies 11-2. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

The Rockies biggest issue this year has been inconsistency. There are two or three good games, which is followed by a clunker or two. Both the pitching and the batting have been culprits at various times. It has been rare where both fire on the same day.

The starting pitching started off on fire, having a superb April and May. However, injuries and poor form crept in, which has hurt their performance. Tyler Chatwood, Chris Rusin, Jordan Lyles, Christian Bergman and Chad Bettis have all missed starts with injuries, as has closer Jake McGee.

Jorge De La Rosa and Eddie Butler were so bad at stages that they were demoted to the bullpen, only to be brought back to the rotation because of the injuries. Jon Gray, after having 14 consecutive starts to his career without a win, has finally broken through and apart from a disappointing outing against the St. Louis Cardinals (9 ER) has been generally very good, now sitting at five wins on the year.

The bats have had their moments, scoring at will in several games. They rank second in the National League in both team batting average (.271) and runs scored (440). But on the road, which was a main focus to improve in 2016, the Rockies rank 14th in batting average at .241 and 9th in runs scored at 188.

These ranks are reflected in their road record of 20-26.

The Rockies will want to finish off this half of the season by finishing on a high. There are five things which they must do before the All-Star break.

Next: Bats Need To Keep Hitting

Jul 7, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (27) hits a solo home run in the fifth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Bats Need To Keep Hitting

After barely being able to hit on the recent road trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco, the return home last night was a smashing success with 11 runs and 14 hits.

Every Rockie had at least one hit except for starting pitcher Bettis. Shortstop Trevor Story and first baseman Mark Reynolds combined for eight RBIs, which led the team. Additionally, second baseman DJ LeMahieu and right fielder Carlos Gonzalez had multiple hits.

The key now is to carry this offensive production into the last three games before the break. They have an opportunity versus the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies pitching ranks 9th in the NL with a 4.34 ERA, and more importantly they have given up 112 home runs, which is the second-worst mark in the NL. With the weather expected to remain hot, the Rockies hitters should be looking to go into full-flight.

They should be looking for the right pitch to hit out, without sacrificing their approach at the plate. They cannot afford to go into “home run mode” which will minimize their effectiveness.

The Rockies are averaging 5.12 runs per game. They must score this amount of runs as a minimum in each game before the break to give themselves the best opportunity to win.

Next: Starting Pitching Needs To Go Deep In Games

Jul 3, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray (55) in the first inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

Starting Pitching Needs To Go Deep In Games

Last night Bettis had his longest outing since May 17, going 6 2/3 innings with 90 pitches thrown. As a result, only three relievers had to be used, with none of them having to throw more than one inning.

It is a huge benefit to have your starting pitcher go as far into the game as possible. The Rockies saw this first hand in their final game against the Giants, where Giants starter Johnny Cueto threw his NL-leading fourth complete game of the season. The Giants bullpen (with their 17 blown saves) were saved from being used, and the Rockies never were able to exploit this advantage.

If the Rockies starters are off, their pitch count adds up quickly which has resulted in early exits in the fourth or fifth inning of games. In turn, this has taxed the bullpen to throw more innings and nearly every member of the pen gets called in to contribute, which makes their availability and effectiveness in the next game brought into question.

Over these last three games, the Rockies starters must get into the game as far as they can. They should all be looking for a quality start type of performance (6 IP, 3 ER or fewer). If they can stay low in the strike zone, and throw consistent strikes, their opportunity to achieve this is greatly enhanced.

The Phillies are a young team. Younger players tend to hack more, and with a sound game plan to attack the zone, ground balls should be the order of the day and the chance to go deep into the game is there for the Rockies starter.

They must take advantage of it.

Next: Fielding Must Remain Strong

Jul 7, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) prepares to throw to first base to end the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Fielding Must Remain Strong

Generally the Rockies are an above-average fielding team. Historically they are at their best when they field well (and they typically rank in the top-5 in the NL).

2016, however, there has been a drop off. There have been many more multiple error games than we are accustomed to seeing. I am of the belief the fielding goes where the Rockies minds go. When they are on mentally, the fielding is outstanding. When they are not prepared to play mentally (which is another discussion for another day), the fielding is below-par.

Last night, the minds were there as we saw several terrific fielding plays by Reynolds, LeMahieu and Story, as you can see below courtesy of the official Rockies twitter account:

#StoryTime. So, so good at defense. pic.twitter.com/uUjDaZEXWn
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 8, 2016

Nothing supports the pitchers more than good fielding. The pitchers can pitch with confidence knowing that any contact is likely to get swallowed up by the fielders, which frees them up to throw strikes and attack the zone.

The Rockies currently rank 9th in the NL with a .983 fielding percentage. This needs to be 1.000 over the final three games to ensure the best chance to win. Provided the players remain mentally in-tune, the possibility of this occurring is strong.

Next: Weiss Must Trust His Pitching More

Jul 1, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss talks with the media prior to the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

Walt Weiss Must Trust His Pitchers More

If the starter doesn’t go deep into the game, the bullpen is brought into action sooner than hoped. When this occurs, we often see the reliever brought into the game to face just one hitter, sometimes two.

Weiss likes to play the matchup game, going with the percentages. Though this is honorable, there have been games where one reliever has been very effective in getting one or two outs, and then he is pulled to create a matchup with a particular hitter.

This has sometimes worked out fine, but there have been many times that this strategy has failed. And when it doesn’t work, another reliever is brought in and then very quickly you have blown through your bullpen within a couple of innings.

Weiss is a smart baseball man – he wouldn’t be a major league manager if he wasn’t. But continuing to ring the changes in the bullpen to create matchups is detrimental to the long-term health of the pen over the rest of the season.

We saw last season the bullpen was “gassed” by the end of May which resulted in players being brought up and down to keep fresh arms on the team.

The next three games is a tiny sample, but Weiss needs to give each reliever used the maximum opportunity to be effective when they are called in. If a certain guy gets you two easy outs, leave him in. If he can’t get anyone out and runs are scored as the result, then bring in somebody else.

Trust your pitchers. Let’s see what happens.

Next: Rockies Must Sweep The Phillies

Jul 7, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis (13) attempts to turn a double play over the slide of Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) in the third inning at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Rockies Must Sweep The Phillies

This is an easy one to ask for. The Phillies stand one game ahead of the Rockies in the overall standings. The Rockies are at home, and must take advantage of this fact.

The Phillies have been hot, winning 10 of their last 14 games. Based on this, they are due to cool off, and the Rockies are the team who can do it. With the Phillies average pitching, the Rockies need to take advantage and swing the bats with authority.

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The Rockies must finish this half of the season on a high note. If they sweep the Phils, they will be 42-46 and still have a good shot at earning a NL Wild Card berth with a strong second half. It will also be of a huge benefit mentally to finish the first half on the strongest note possible.

Home sweeps have been rare for the Rockies in 2016. It is the time now to change this fact.

Next: Colorado Rockies Blogger Discussion Set For Saturday

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and MLB.com unless otherwise indicated.

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