Colorado Rockies: The most important week in team history?

At first glance, the Rockies’ road might not seem too easy.  They play their final two series against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals.  The Phillies come in to the series above .500 and the Nats are at an even .500.  However, both teams have been eliminated from postseason play, and therefore could potentially spend portions of the series testing out young talent for the future.

In reality, between the three teams (Rockies, Cardinals, and Dodgers), Colorado might actually have the advantage in this final week.  There are three reasons for this.

First off, The Rockies have one more game at hand than either of their competitors.  That means that since the Rockies still have seven games to play as opposed to L.A. and the Cards’ six, they have more opportunities to win.  Now, obviously this is only an advantage if the Rockies actually win that extra game, but if they do, that puts them just one game behind both teams.

The Rockies’ second advantage is the fact that they play all seven of their final games at home, where they have been 26-11 since the start of July.  The Dodgers last six games are on the road and the Cardinals last three games are also on the road.  This is another huge advantage for the Rox, who have played very strong at home as of late.

Finally, the Rockies will face arguably the least motivated competition of the three teams.  This is not to disrespect the Phils and the Nats, both are quality big league teams–but the emotion will be much lower in their dugouts than in the dugouts of the opponents L.A. and St. Louis will face.  In the Dodgers’ case, though they also are playing two eliminated teams (the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants), there is a unique X-factor in play.