Colorado Rockies: August numbers you should know

Colorado Rockies play-by-play broadcaster Drew Goodman made an interesting point during Colorado’s 9-8 Labor Day victory over the San Francisco Giants. He noted that the month of August could be broken up into three parts: Colorado’s slow 2-7 start to the month, followed by an 11-4 run, and then a disappointing 1-3 finish.

Overall, the Colorado Rockies completed the penultimate month of the 2018 regular season with a 14-14 record, good enough to keep them in the division race at 1.5 games back of first place.

August was a roller coaster ride for the Rockies, not unlike the rest of the regular season to this point. The Rockies’ .500 winning percentage was tied for sixth in the National League, and the club’s 14 wins were tied for the fifth. Ten of those 14 wins were in come-from-behind fashion, including three walk-offs. Would Rockies fans have liked to see a few more wins? Probably, but their .500 month kept them in the division race, which is crucial entering the final month of the regular season.

The story of the month, though, was the Rockies’ four-game road sweep of the first-place Atlanta Braves, which wrapped up a stretch of 46 straight games against teams north of .500. Colorado finished 30-16 during that span.

Let’s take a look at some pitching and hitting statistics that stood out from the month.

Pitchers of the Month

German Márquez was the Rockies’ best pitcher through the last 28 games, narrowly edging out Kyle Freeland’s 2.15 ERA with his own 2.14. In six starts, German pitched 42.0 innings and went 2-1, giving up just 10 runs (all earned) on 26 hits, good for a .176 batting against average. He struck out 53 hitters and walked just 10 (one intentional).

An honorable mention is deserved for Freeland, though. He continued his breakout campaign, going 3-1 in August and giving up just nine runs on 32 hits. He whiffed 42 hitters and walked 15.

Mr. Anderson

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Lefty Tyler Anderson had to fight tooth and nail through an extremely tough August, a month that saw him post an 11.39 ERA in 21.1 innings. He gave up 27 runs, all earned, on 35 hits, including nine homers. This is in stark contrast to his 2.16 ERA in 33.1 innings in July.

Again noted by the Rockies broadcast on Monday afternoon, when Anderson was missing his spots in his past handful of starts, he was missing in hittable locations up in the strike zone. Because he averages only 91.8 mph on his fastball this season according to baseballsavant.com, Anderson has to make up for his lack of velocity with pinpoint accuracy, something that simply eluded him.

He saw a step back in the right direction on Monday afternoon, as he threw 5.1 innings giving up just three runs on six hits and striking out seven, including two in the first inning, to beat the San Francisco Giants. He did not issue a walk.

Before Monday, his last victory came on July 4 when he threw eight shutout innings at home to beat the Giants.

Check Please

After a dismal road trip through the National League Central for Wade Davis to begin the month, he has since looked like the pitcher the Rockies were hoping he’d be when he cashed in on free agency last offseason.

Since giving up three earned runs in a third of an inning against the Dodgers on August 9, “Wader” has yielded just two hits and one walk against 13 strikeouts in nine innings. He’s also nailed down six saves during that span.

As the Rockies embark on these uncharted waters, they’re going to need Davis to continue to be rock-solid at the back of the bullpen.