Colorado Rockies: The 5 Best Storylines So Far This Season

Welcome back to the second edition of Purple Monday. The Colorado Rockies showed some signs of life this weekend against the Phillies but, in the end, the fireworks may have been the best part of the weekend, with a disastrous 10-3 loss to close out the first half of the season on Sunday.

With the All-Star break upon us, let’s look into the five biggest storylines so far this season for the Rockies.

“New” members of the rotation

Tyler Chatwood returning from his second Tommy John surgery and the inclusion of Tyler Anderson and Jon Gray for (essentially) the whole season has been one of the biggest stories for the Rockies so far. We had hopes for Gray, but no one knew what to expect from Chatwood after missing over a year, and Anderson was hardly even on the radar coming into this year.

Let’s start with Chatwood. I have always liked him a lot, but was nervous to see how he would return after his second round of Tommy John surgery. He came out strong in spring training and has been able to put together one of the best first halves that a Rockies pitcher has had in a long time. He has compiled an ERA of 3.08 over 90.2 innings and earned nine quality starts. Perhaps the most impressive thing so far for Chatwood is his ability to get outs despite his low strikeout rate, of 15.4%. He makes up for this by letting guys hit the ball, but making sure they are down in the zone leading to ground balls. His ground ball to fly ball ratio is 1.43, way up from his career average of 1.17 and nearly double the league average of 0.83.

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With his relatively low strikeout rate in mind, his K:BB ratio is an impressive 1.73, showing just how rarely he gives the batter a free pass.

He has been especially lights out on the road, with an ERA of 1.30, which ranks him third-best in the league. If the Rockies hitters are going to be criticized for their splits at Coors Field, then Chatwood deserves more national attention for the first half he has put together despite pitching half of his games at Coors Field (above stats prior to Sunday’s game).

Gray is supposed to be the best pitcher in recent Rockies history and he has certainly looked like this could be a reality at times so far this season. He has an ERA of 4.67 at this point, which is inflated secondary to a couple of rough starts but for the most part he has been lights out.

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He is my favorite pitcher to watch because he just makes batters look silly. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing guys head back to the dugout shaking their head and this is something the Gray is able to do frequently. His K:BB ratio is 3.14 and is averaging more than one strikeout per inning.

Especially exciting for Gray is his performance at Coors Field as his stats are basically the same regardless of where he pitches. Also impressive is that he continues to improve. In April, his ERA was 11.42 in only two starts and has decreased each month since then. He sat at 3.77 for June and is below that, at 3.65 through his two starts so far in July.

Jon dazzled in his final start, one ruined by some questionable bullpen management, but Gray was able to pitch into the seventh inning, allowing only three hits and two walks while striking out eight. Although Gray was charged with two runs, they both scored on a home run that Jake McGee allowed after replacing Gray with two runners on. I am excited to see Gray continue to progress over the second half of this year.

Tyler Anderson is a bit of a surprise this year for the Rockies, although he maybe shouldn’t be. He was our first-round pick in 2011 and has dominated at every level. The only reason we haven’t seen him earlier is some bad luck with injuries. Now he seems to be healthy and has been a key contributor for the Rockies.

His record of 1-3 doesn’t tell the whole story. He has only allowed 12 earned runs in six starts, and the main problem has been a lack of any run support. The Rockies have only provided him with an average of four runs per game in games he has started. Nine of these came in the wild series against the Diamondbacks in a game the Rockies bullpen gave up eight in a losing effort. This means the Rockies have only given him an average of three runs per game in his other five starts.

Anderson, clearly tired of the lack of run support, took matters into his own hands Saturday and clubbed a 2 run homer to right field against the Phillies, Saturday. The offense followed his lead and produced eight runs in all to earn Anderson his first major league win. Here’s to hoping for many more of these after the break.

Next: The Rookie Who Has Made National Headlines

The Bullpen

We had hopes that the bullpen could be “the strength of the team” this year with the additions of Jason Motte, Chad Qualls, and Jake McGee. This, unfortunately, has not panned out. All three of the aforementioned additions have ERAs above 4.50, with McGee all the way over 6.00 after some terrible outings recently. The bullpen as a whole reflects this as well with a team ERA of 4.98, which is the second-worst in MLB.

One bright spot in the bullpen is rookie Carlos Estevez who took over following McGee’s injury as closer for the team. His ERA of 4.45 is higher than it should be for how well he has pitched. He has had some ups and downs as you have to expect from a rookie, but his fastball consistently reaches triple digits and he mixes a slider in quite nicely to keep hitters off balance. He has four saves so far this year, a number I expect to grow in the second half.

Also exciting for the Rockies is the re-emergence of Boone Logan, who has mostly been a disappointment after signing him in 2014. His ERA is 3.18, he is racking up an average of 11.5 strikeouts per 9 innings and left-handed hitters are only hitting .167 against him this year. He could turn into a major trade piece for the Rockies over the next couple of weeks as his contract expires this year and he could be a lift to a bullpen needing a left-handed specialist.

Another feel-good story in the Rockies bullpen is the return of Adam Ottavino after Tommy John surgery. He returned in San Francisco this past week and has so far provided the Rockies with three scoreless outings. He is a guy that will hopefully provide the Rockies with some very solid appearances out of the bullpen in the second half.

Next: Hey Now, You're an All-Star

Our All-Stars

Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez will be representing the Colorado Rockies in San Diego, with CarGo starting following some injuries to the NL starters. Both deserve to be in the All-Star Game as they are having great seasons so far.

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Arenado is tied for fourth in the league with 23 home runs and leads the national league in RBI. His average is .287 and the impressive part is his OBP is .359, compliments of more walks this year, 38, than he had all of last year. His defense has been superb as usual, as he seems to be on his way to another Gold Glove, accounting for only one error so far this season.

CarGo has also been an offensive machine, continuing his performance from the second half last year. His average is .318 to go along with 19 home runs and 58 RBI, displaying how dominant he has been.

Arenado and Gonzalez have been key factors in the Rockies ranking fourth in MLB in runs scored. Gonzalez will also represent the Rockies in the Home Run Derby tonight, and I’d put my money on his sweet swing to win the whole thing.

Next: Looking at the Next Generation of Rockies

Prospects

We all know the Rockies farm system is just as important as the major league team if we want to get into the playoffs anytime soon. There was a great deal of praise for the system in the preseason rankings and the Rockies have had many prospects continue to impress. I will just name a few who have really stuck out to me today and we will get more into it down the road.

• David Dahl: He was named to the Futures Game yesterday and made one of the best defensive plays of the game, nailing a guy at home from center field. He was recently promoted to Triple-A where he has done nothing but hit .500 in six games. He also has two home runs for the Isotopes. He could be ready for the major leagues sooner than originally expected.

• Jeff Hoffman: I went in-depth for why I think Jeff should be in the majors last week. He followed that up with his worst performance, giving up eight runs on 10 hits over 4.2 innings, so maybe he isn’t quite ready. Hoffman was also selected to the Futures Game where he provided a scoreless inning of work, giving up only one hit and getting fellow Rockies prospect, Raimel Tapia, to ground out. So he may not be ready yet … but he’s close.

• Raimel Tapia: He also represented the Rockies in the Futures Game after hitting the ball well for the Yard Goats. He has an average of .337 through the first half and seems able to hit just about everything. One of the coolest things about Tapia is his two-strike approach where he enters a deep squat to shrink the zone. He profiles as a left fielder who could compete for some batting titles if all goes well in the final stages of his development.

• Ryan Castellani: Castellani was Colorado’s second-round pick in 2014 and has done nothing but impress in his first taste of pro ball. So far this year, he has an ERA of 3.86 for the Modesto Nuts. He is averaging almost a strikeout per inning and is not allowing very many walks. He is definitely a pitcher we could see at 20^th and Blake down the road.

• German Marquez: Based on how McGee has played, Marquez could be the best part of the Corey Dickerson trade for the Rockies. He has an ERA of 2.63 for the Yard Goats over 106 innings and a K:BB ratio of 2.96. He has a fastball can reach 96 mph and sits at 92-94 and is accompanied with a nice curveball and change up all of which he commands well.

Next: Do These 3 Pitchers Have a Spot with the Rockies?

Obviously, there are other prospects having great years and we will dive into the prospect talk more after the season is over, or if the Rockies leave us no choice in the second half. For now, there are a lot of questions facing the team in the second half. Who will we trade? Will Walt Weiss still be the manager next year? Will Jeff Hoffman get called up? The list goes on, but for the next couple days, lets just enjoy CarGo’s sweet, sweet swing in the Derby and cheer for him and Nolan tomorrow night in the All-Star Game.