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Colorado Rockies: How to avoid repeating the ’18 NLDS in ’19

By Luke Mullins

MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 05: Gerardo Parra #8 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after striking out during the sixth inning of Game Two of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on October 5, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 05: Gerardo Parra #8 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after striking out during the sixth inning of Game Two of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on October 5, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 02: Trevor Story #27 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates after scoring a run in the thirteenth inning to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead against the Chicago Cubs during the National League Wild Card Game at Wrigley Field on October 2, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 02: Trevor Story #27 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates after scoring a run in the thirteenth inning to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead against the Chicago Cubs during the National League Wild Card Game at Wrigley Field on October 2, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Win the division.

The Rockies had to take a long, arduous road to Milwaukee before they even got a chance to play in the NLDS. Much has been made about them playing three games in three cities, in three different time zones over three days, but that really does have an effect. Especially when all three are high-stakes games and one of them goes a full 13 innings in a visiting ballpark.

By the time they found themselves at Miller Park, the Rockies looked like they had lost all their energy. They could have avoided this debacle if only they had won their division to begin with. One more win during the regular season and it would have been the Dodgers who would have had to face off against the Cubs while the Rockies kicked back in Denver and waited for the Atlanta Braves to come to town.

Had the Rockies won the division, the NLDS could have shaped up very differently. They would have stayed home after beating the Washington Nationals at Coors Field in the final game of the season and hosted the Braves, the team with the worst regular season record in the postseason.

Freeland and Marquez would have been ready to go for games 1 and 2 at home where Colorado has played as good as any team in baseball. One more regular season win and we could be talking about the Rockies advancing to the National League Championship Series right now.

Instead, they had to play a road series against the NL’s top seed after facing off against the team with the second-best record in the NL in the Wild Card Game, also on the road.

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