Colorado Rockies make big changes in Sunday lineup versus Arizona

The Colorado Rockies made a big shuffle in their lineup on Sunday morning prior to facing the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third game of their very important three-game series at Coors Field.

For days, there has been talk about the Rockies possibly changing up their lineup to kickstart their struggling offense. On Sunday, that’s exactly what happened.

Here is the lineup for Colorado on Sunday as they hope to avoid losing their fifth game in six outings on this homestand.

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DJ LeMahieu 2B

Carlos Gonzalez RF

Charlie Blackmon CF

Gerardo Parra LF

Trevor Story SS

Ryan McMahon 1B

Pat Valaika 3B

Tony Wolters C

German Marquez P

Compare that to Saturday night’s Rockies lineup…

Blackmon CF

LeMahieu 2B

Nolan Arenado 3B

Mark Reynolds 1B

Ian Desmond LF

Parra RF

Story SS

Jonathan Lucroy C

Gray P

Most notable among the changes are Arenado having an off day on Sunday. With the Rockies playing consecutive games from September 1-17, it makes sense to try to find an off day for Arenado 5-for-32 since August 25. For the Rockies to make it into the postseason, Arenado will need to be back to being Nolan at the plate. A day off may help in that respect (even though Arenado hates taking days off).

With Arenado out of the lineup, Colorado manager Bud Black told reporters on Sunday that someone would need to be slotted into the third spot to help produce some offense. That falls to Blackmon, who is putting together MVP-type numbers from the leadoff position. Can that continue from the third position? If so, could this be the start of a trend? Blackmon found out about the lineup change on Sunday morning so it’s something to keep an eye on.

Carlos Gonzalez batting second is a bit of a surprise as well. However, CarGo has shown signs of life at the plate in recent games. He has hit safely in 27 of his last 36 games since July 18, batting .302 with 11 doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI. August was by far his best month of the season as he logged a .279 average with 15 RBI.

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McMahon will get another chance to show his promising skills, starting at first base. With Reynolds hitting 0-for-6 in the series and 1-for-15 on Colorado’s current homestand, giving him a break makes perfect sense as well.