Colorado Rockies: A letter of apology to Ian Desmond

Way back in March, I was one of the first to raise the red flags on the performance of Colorado Rockies first baseman Ian Desmond.  My fears came to fruition as he carried his spring training struggles into the regular season as it took him until mid-June to finally get over the dubious “Mendoza Line.”  Since then Desmond has been on a tear and has been one of the Rockies most consistent hitters. So after countless articles of criticism, I thought it would be a good time to take a break from the trade deadline talk and issue a formal apology to Ian Desmond.

Dear Ian,

I owe you an apology. You and I have had a tumultuous past.  I have called you out for not living up to the ridiculous 5 year/$70 million contract that was signed before last season.  For the first couple months of the season, the .170 batting average, the constant strikeouts, and double play balls in keysituations had driven me to the edge of insanity.

But thankfully, this past month and a half, you have finally began to play like the highest paid player on the roster should.  In the month of July, your slash line is an outstanding .339/.379/.581 with 2 HR and 11 RBI in 62 at-bats.  To go along with that, you have gone from dead last in WAR to a positive 0.1.

Defensively, as someone who idolized Todd Helton growing up and a former left-handed first baseman myself, I am a strong believer that first base is for lefties.  That said, I have totally underestimated your defense at first.

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Even though you have found yourself out of position on occasion, you have committed only three errors all season and a .996 fielding percentage.

This has allowed for Arenado, Story, and LeMahieu to continue making Gold Glove type plays as they have total faith in you on the other side of the diamond.

Keep in mind that I reserve the right to break out my torch and pitchfork if you happen to revert back to your play from earlier in the season.  If the Rockies plan on making the playoffs, they are going to need you to continue providing Story and CarGo protection from the six-hole and driving in those critical runs that are left over from the middle of the lineup.

So once again, I apologize for the constant criticism over the last four months and hope you continue putting up big numbers going forward.

Next: Ranking the Rockies team’s top three needs

Sincerely,

The Rox Pile’s resident “Debbie Downer”

Aaron Hurt