Colorado Rockies Fall in Philly: 4 Takes From Friday

The Colorado Rockies started a three-game road set with the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night. It didn’t go well. Here are the four main story lines from the 10-6 loss.

1) Another rough outing for Jon Gray:

There’s an old saying in baseball that there are only two types of players: those who have been humbled and those who are about to be. Gray had an outstanding July for the Colorado Rockies, but his first two starts in August have been a large serving of humble pie. After serving up eight runs against Miami in his last start, Gray allowed seven more (six earned) against Philadelphia.

Gray had decent stuff working at times, as evidenced by his six strikeouts in less than five innings, but he struggled with command all night, walking four hitters. The big blow was Ryan Howard‘s grand slam in the fifth inning. The Rockies had just tied the game in the top half of the inning, but Howard’s blast put it out of range again almost immediately.

Colorado shouldn’t be overly concerned about two bad starts from their young right-hander, but they should definitely be monitoring him closely for any potential signs of fatigue. There’s no sense in pushing Gray in a season where the playoffs look out of reach.

2) Charlie Blackmon is a bad, bad man:

We covered Blackmon’s strong 2016 earlier this week, but in case you missed it, the general gist was that the Rockies center fielder has performed far better on the road this season.

That trend continued in a big way on Friday, as Blackmon launched a trio of solo home runs. The first was an absolute bomb off the facing of the second deck in right field, while the second was an impressive opposite field shot just over the wall in left. Then in the ninth, Blackmon took one out to right field once again.

Colorado hasn’t played particularly well as a team over the last week or so, but the Rockies lead-off hitter is absolutely on fire right now.

3) The MLB debut of Matt Carasiti:

Carasiti was in High-A ball in 2015, but a strong year in the minors got him from Double-A Hartford to the major leagues (with a brief stop in Triple-A) in just a few months.

The right-hander made his MLB debut on Friday, and as you might expect, it looked like his adrenaline was pumping. Carasiti was throwing gas in the high 90s but seemed to have little idea where it was heading.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

The Phillies got two runs off Carasiti, but he demonstrated some premium velocity and movement on the mound. It’s not hard to see why Colorado is excited about his future. The Rockies bullpen should be better in the long run with Carasiti taking the place of Gonzalez Germen.

4) Sloppy defense hurts the Rockies:

Colorado made three errors on Friday, and all three times the Phillies ended up scoring a run because of it. The Rockies injury woes showed up on defense in a big way, as Daniel Descalso and Cristhian Adames both botched routine ground balls.

Next: Charlie Blackmon Silencing the Critics but Still Overlooked

Colorado would have lost Friday night even if they had played error-free baseball, and for a team with fading playoff hopes, it’s understandable that their focus may wane a bit. But for a team looking to build towards next season, it’s a valuable lesson about the importance of being alert at all times.