Colorado Rockies: Ian Desmond is struggling … again

A few weeks ago, I had issued a heartfelt apology to the Colorado Rockies’ Ian Desmond for the continued criticism after he finally began to play like the player they had hoped for when he signed a five-year, $70 million contract.

Unfortunately, since that apology, Desmond has reverted back to his awful form that had led to such criticism of the Colorado Rockies‘ biggest acquisition before the 2017 season. Luckily for me, I gave myself an out and stated that I reserved the right to break out the pitchforks and torches if he happened to do just that.

So, without further ado, it’s time to dust off the pitchforks and torches.

It has been another pathetic month for Desmond. After hitting .321/.380/.500  with two home runs and 12 RBI in the month of July, much like the Rockies’ offense, Desmond has not produced since the calendar flipped to August. This month, in 40 at-bats, he is hitting .150/.209/.175 with zero homers or runs batted in and 11 strikeouts.

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The one thing the Rockies could count on him for has completely disappeared. At one point this season, he was neck and neck with Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado for the team lead in home runs … but there has been a complete power outage. He hasn’t hit a home run in his last 62 at-bats and has only hit two in Colorado’s last 26 games.

Probably the only good thing he has done lately is avoiding grounding into the inning- or game-ending double plays in the bottom of the ninth in both Saturday and Sunday’s walk-off wins.

Ryan McMahon‘s heroics in the Dodgers’ series should get him a lot more playing time at first base but, once again, the roster configuration is hindering what they can do with Desmond. Since the roster is full of left-handed bats in the outfield, Desmond will likely play against southpaw starters, leaving McMahon vulnerable.

As we all found out the first two months of the season, Bud Black has no problem sticking with Ian Desmond as he battles through prolonged slumps. Unfortunately, we are going to have to continue watching him hit grounders and striking out until he finally starts to contribute once again. We will see if he figures things out as the Rockies will need him to stay in the highly competitive playoff race.