Colorado Rockies: Wish list for the Washington/Pittsburgh road trip

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DENVER, CO – APRIL 11: Benches clear as a brawl breaks out between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres in the third inning at Coors Field on April 11, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Well, the first C olorado Rockies homestand of the season was an adventure, huh? I read plenty of “season prediction” articles over the winter and none had Nolan Arenado barreling to the mound in fury and frustration by game 13. As has often been said over the course of baseball history, you just never know what you might see during a day at the ballpark.

The good news is the benches-clearing brawl in the third inning on Wednesday at Coors Field finally lit a spark under the you-know-whats of the Rockies offense. While there’s still plenty to be concerned about with the offense to start the season, it was borderline exhilarating to finally see a string of good at-bats yielding good results and manufactured runs.

The Wish List

Keep Building Offensive Momentum

The Rockies averaged less than three runs per game for the first five games of their inaugural homestand in 2018. Even factoring in the six runs scored Wednesday in the win over San Diego, a hair over three runs per game at home will not cut it. I always remind myself when the offense is struggling that nobody wishes they were hitting better more than the players, so let’s not overreact here. That said, I would love to see the Rockies continue not only hitting the long ball, but stringing together base hits here and there as well.

After the brawl on Sunday, I saw fire and aggression in the offense for the first time perhaps all season. It came with a cost, however. It looks like the Rockies will likely be missing some combination of Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Gerardo Parra and German Marquez throughout this road trip. That means it’s time for the rest of the lineup and the role players to pick up some slack and continue the momentum they created on Sunday against the Padres.

Steady the Rotation’s Rocking Boat

Going by the eyeball test this year, I couldn’t seem to remember a game where the starter wasn’t either lights-out good, or get-him-out-now bad. After looking into it, I found that opponents are averaging seven runs per game in Colorado’s losses and less than 2.5 runs per game in their wins. I’m not saying the Rockies should split that down the middle every night, but they need to keep the opponents run total down, especially early on in games, to give the still-sputtering offense some time to come around.

Take the East Coast Media to Class

It’s no secret if you’ve read some of my work or know me personally, that I’m no fan of how mainstream national media treats the Rockies when it comes to awards and recognition. I was stunned that neither Charlie nor Nolan were even in the top three of NL MVP voting in 2017. Ever since, I have been waiting for these types of road trips.

Washington and Pittsburgh are certainly not baseball market giants, but the two cities are large media markets in general and I would bet most of them haven’t seen a lot of the Rockies, the only team in the Mountain time zone. Assuming Chuck Nazty gets healthy and Nolan staves off suspension for a few more days with an appeal, I would love the Rockies, and those two in particular, to show the East Coast media that the Rockies can hit the ball out of YOUR yard too.

DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 01: Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies waits on deck in the first inning of a regular season MLB game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on October 1, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Russell Lansford/Getty Images) /

The Scenarios

Nightmare Scenario

Charlie Blackmon goes on the 10-day DL, while Arenado, Parra and Marquez each get six-game suspensions. Without three of Colorado’s top threats, the quality Nationals pitching staff keeps the Rockies pent-up in all but one of the four games, scoring 26 runs in the process.

A limping Rockies team heads to Pittsburgh and drops two of three, finally putting a complete game together once the suspended Rockies return. They head home 2-5 on the road trip and panic sets in among Rockies fans everywhere.

Dream Scenario

Blackmon returns to the everyday rotation for the Rockies while Arenado, Parra and Marquez each get three games to be served later due to the appeals process. The offensive momentum created after the brawl Sunday turns into a hot lineup that overpowers even the Nats’ vaunted hitters, and the Rockies take three of four in Washington.

They head to Pittsburgh and by then the Pirates have returned to Earth after a hot start, resulting in a Rockies sweep behind dominant pitching. The Rockies return home with a 12-8 record, six games ahead of the Dodgers.

Next: Looking into why the benches cleared on Wednesday

P.S. Events like the brawl on Sunday, while regrettable, can do a lot to bring a clubhouse together. I think it could turn out more important than we realize at this point. Go Rockies!

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