Colorado Rockies: A bandwagon fan’s guide to the 2017 season

You see that guy at third base? That’s Nolan Arenado. Rockies fans who have watched him game in and game out believe he’s the best third baseman in baseball. You should as well … because he is. No one can make plays in the field like he can. Don’t bring up Manny Machado or Kris Bryant. Just don’t. If you’re going to be on the bandwagon, that’s a no-no.

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See that bearded guy in center field? That’s Charlie Blackmon. He also goes by Chuck Nazty. Not Nasty. Nazty. Don’t make that rookie mistake. He’s the best leadoff man in baseball right now. He has 42 RBI in 47 games. From the leadoff position. Think about that.

You remember Carlos Gonzalez from the old days when you used to watch the team, right? Well, he’s still in right field for the Rockies and he is going through a recent renaissance at the plate. He batted cleanup for much of the start of the season before being moved down in the lineup because he was in such a deep slump. How deep? He was hitting .188 on May 10. Now? He’s hitting .252 on the season after Wednesday night when he smacked a three-run homer. That’s part of a seven-game hitting streak which is seeing him hit .464 during that stretch. There’s a nugget of knowledge to drop on your new friends.

Oh, one more thing, the Rockies signed Ian Desmond to play first base in the offseason and didn’t re-sign their first baseman from last year, Mark Reynolds. Then, in the spring, they decided to re-sign Reynolds to a minor league deal. Desmond was hit in the hand in spring training so Reynolds took over at first again. Now Reynolds is one of the leading home run and RBI guys for the Rockies and, because of that, Desmond is playing left field. There, that’s the short version that will catch you up on things there.

Some other sentences that you can use at any time…

“Man, I hope David Dahl is able to play soon.”

“I wish Trevor Story would lower his strikeouts.”

“Alexi Amarista has been a pretty pleasant surprise, huh?”

Drop those sentences and start a conversation. If you ever get stuck on what to say next, saying something about hitting at Coors Field is always a way to bridge the gap.

Next: 3 things we have learned on this Rockies road trip

Enjoy the bandwagon ride, new Rockies fan. It’s going to be a fun one.