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Colorado Rockies: This is the most important series of the season so far

By Luke Mullins

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 09: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on May 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 09: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on May 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – APRIL 22: The Colorado Rockies play the Chicago Cubs at Coors Field on April 22, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – APRIL 22: The Colorado Rockies play the Chicago Cubs at Coors Field on April 22, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

If you told me before the season started that on June 1 the Colorado Rockies would be in first in the National League West and would sit four games ahead of the five-time reigning division champion Los Angeles Dodgers, I would take it in a heartbeat.

But despite this, it seems Colorado still hasn’t played its best baseball yet. The starting pitching has been great at times and puzzlingly bad at others.

Jon Gray (5-6, 5.68 ERA) is supposed to be the team’s ace but he has been unreliable through the first two months of the season, putting up some head-scratching splits. He has either been absolutely dominant (1.36 ERA, 0.79 WHIP in victories) or been absolutely dominated (10.05 ERA, 2.13 WHIP in losses). We detailed some of the issues in this article.

The only constant is he keeps striking out batters, putting together a 10.5 K/9 to this point.

Luckily, guys like Chad Bettis (4-1, 3.68 ERA) and Kyle Freeland (5-5, 3.43 ERA) have helped carry the team to the top spot in the west.

The offense has been the same story.

Last year’s batting champion, Charlie Blackmon is hitting .276, but he’s clubbed a team-high 12 home runs.

Nolan Arenado is clipping a career-high .319 and his NL-leading .996 OPS is also a career best, but his 11 homers and 34 RBI are behind the 40 homer/130 RBI pace we’re used to expecting from one of the game’s best players.

Part of the issue for the Rockies could be that they’ve played the most road games in baseball this season (tied with the San Francisco Giants). This anomaly has affected Carlos Gonzalez more than anyone else on the team.

CarGo’s season numbers are pretty mediocre –.256 average with 5 home runs and 19 RBI. What’s interesting about CarGo is that his home-road splits are about as drastic as you’ll ever see.

He’s hitting .188 with only one home run in 25 road games (87 plate appearances). To put that in perspective, Giants ace Madison Bumgarner hit .206 with three home runs over 36 plate appearances last season.

But in Denver, CarGo looks like his old superstar self. In only 15 home games, he is hitting .367 with four home runs, nine RBI, and a 1.129 OPS.

I know he calls Coors Field home, but no amount of altitude can explain those bizarre splits.

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