Colorado Rockies: How the National League West can be won

Don’t look now, but the Colorado Rockies are just 2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West.

This seems impossible for a team that is 7-11 at home and playing a first baseman who could have the worst season in the history of baseball. But the Rockies are finding ways to win on the road (you can thank the starting pitchers for that), and are 23-20 just over a quarter of the way through the season.

The rest of the NL West is sputtering along with the Rockies.

After sprinting out the gates with nine consecutive series victories, the Diamondbacks are suddenly hapless at the plate. In the month of May, while going 5-9, they are slashing an unsightly .194/.270/.301 as a team (and their 56 wRC+ is last in baseball by far). Paul Goldschmidt is having a nightmare start to his season. And early MVP-candidate A.J. Pollock is expected to miss four to eight weeks with a fractured thumb.

Meanwhile, Dodger Stadium must be haunted, because this team is cursed. In addition to the unfortunate injuries to Justin Turner, Corey Seager and Clayton Kershaw, the offense has been nearly as putrid as the Diamondbacks’.

Looking at the San Francisco Giants, who the Rockies will face starting tomorrow, have also been hit by the injury bug as Hunter Pence, Joe Panik, and their two best starting pitchers (Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto) have been on the disabled list. Bumgarner is hoping to make his 2018 debut by the end of May and Cueto has right elbow inflammation that will likely sideline him to the All-Star game.