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Gather ’round, kids! It’s Story time!
Trevor Story continued to rake in August, slashing .288/.328/.514 with an .841 OPS and a wRC+ of 109. He parked six homers and drove in 16 runs. He also swiped a historic 20th base.
With swipe of second in 2nd inning, Trevor Story becomes 7th #Rockies player (and 1st since CarGo in 2013) with 20 steals and 20 HRs. Also the 7th #MLB SS 25 or younger to do it #MLB
— Kyle Newman (@KyleNewmanDP) August 28, 2018
Story is becoming one of the top shortstops in the National League, both offensively and defensively, and his development over the past two-plus seasons has been incredibly fun to watch.
Holliday Season
Perhaps the most exciting story of the season so far has been the return of Matt Holliday. Near the end of July, the Rockies brought Holliday back on a minor-league contract to see if the 38-year-old outfielder still had anything left in the tank.
He sure did.
After spending a couple of days with the Grand Junction Rockies to get back in the baseball rhythm, Holliday was promoted to Triple-A Albuquerque. In 15 games with the Isotopes, “Big Daddy” slashed .346/.452/.596 with a 1.048 OPS. He hit three homers and two doubles, and drove in 14 runs. He finally returned to the 20th and Blake on August 23, when the Rockies called him up for the last of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. He went 0-for-3 in his first game back. However, two nights later, facing his former team, the St. Louis Cardinals, he made a pinch-hit appearance off the bench in the seventh inning of a scoreless game.
The result was right out of a Hollywood movie script. He crushed a hanging 0-1 breaking ball deep into the left field bleachers for his first Rockies homer in almost 10 years, not to mention giving his club a 1-0 lead.
3,634 days later, Matt Holliday homered again for the @Rockies. #TipOfTheCap pic.twitter.com/xoH9GWRj6s
— MLB (@MLB) August 26, 2018
Overall, Holliday is 8-for-21 with two RBI and two runs scored since being called up.
Final Thoughts
As we reflect on August, it’s not a stretch to say the Rockies did exactly what they needed to do to stay in the playoff race. After a 9-8 Labor Day comeback win over the Giants, Colorado remained perfect at 3-0 in the month of September. The club is getting timely hitting to pick up their pitching staff in good and bad starts alike, and if this continues through a crucial homestand and one last killer road trip, look out. The Rockies are hungry, and they have their first division crown in their sights.