Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon’s impressive 162-game statistics

It is becoming more and more difficult to come up with superlatives to describe Charlie Blackmon and his essential role as the leadoff hitter for the Colorado Rockies.

Blackmon accounted for the winning run in Wednesday’s 3-2, 12-inning win at Cleveland, mashing a solo homer for the second time in as many games at Progressive Field. The blast was his 27^th of the season and, as he crossed home plate, he scored his 102^nd run of the season. That’s 10 more than the current runner-up in the category (Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals with 92 runs scored).

It continues an incredible run for the 31-year-old Blackmon, who should be in the discussion for MVP along with some other guy who plays third base for the Rockies. It also continues Blackmon’s assault on the team record books.

According to Elias, Blackmon’s extra-inning feats on Wednesday in Cleveland earned him another place of honor in Colorado history. Remember, he singled in the 10^th inning before hitting his game-winning homer in the 12^th. The only other Rockies player ever to record two hits ––including a home run –– in extra innings of one game was Michael Cuddyer in 2012. Cuddyer did that in the same extra frame –– coming through with a single and home run in the 10th inning of a win at Detroit.

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How big was Blackmon’s extra-inning feats on Wednesday? Blackmon had only one extra-base hit in his 38 career extra-inning at-bats before his game-winning shot on Wednesday.

As High Heat Stats pointed out in this tweet, over his last 162 games, Blackmon has a line of .340/.393/.640 with 44 home runs, 151 runs scored and 111 RBI.

Those are excellent numbers, but of course the question that will be asked by so many is about Blackmon’s stats away from Coors Field. It isn’t just the thin air of Denver that makes Blackmon such a dangerous hitter. As this tweet mentioned, of the 44 homers during that 162-game span, 22 have come on the road. Additionally, 54 of the 111 RBI also happened on the road.

Looking at individual seasons, you can see that Blackmon has done quite well at Coors this year … along with making his mark on the road. He’s hitting .398 in 54 games with an OPS of 1.284. To put that in perspective, the Major Legaue leader heading into Thursday was Cincinnati’s Joey Votto with a 1.040. Note: Blackmon has an overall 1.004 OPS this season, one of only seven players to have 1.000 or higher.

Last season, Blackmon hit 17 of his 29 homers on the road, where he had a higher slugging percentage (.563 over .540) than at Coors Field. His average, OBP and OPS were slightly higher at 20^th and Blake than on the road but the widest range came on OBP with a .036 difference (.399 over .363).

Next: Bud Black talks about limiting innings for his rookie pitchers

Is Blackmon a product of Coors Field? Hardly. The stats over the last 162 games should show that Colorado’s center fielder and leadoff man is having a hitting stretch that should be admired and appreciated.

It is becoming more and more difficult to come up with superlatives to describe Charlie Blackmon and his essential role as the leadoff hitter for the Colorado Rockies.

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