Colorado Rockies: Runners on First…and Second-Guesses

Welcome everyone to Rox Pile’s newest segment on the Colorado Rockies, Runners on First…and Second-Guesses.

Last season, I became known in our comment section and other message boards (we appreciate and encourage more comments, by the way) for some of my critical views of the Colorado Rockies. Since this is my second season writing for Rox Pile, I thought I would completely embrace my role with a brand new segment where I do some second-guessing. Fans of the show “Seinfeld” can think of this as my own personal “Festivus” where I air my grievances.

I will write these segments periodically throughout the season hoping to stir debate, have fun, and raise fan expectations.  And again, if I am on point or completely off base, we appreciate all messages whether it be in our comment section or on Twitter at me or @RoxPileFS.

More from Colorado Rockies News

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco
• What Bill Schmidt’s comments mean for the Colorado Rockies in 2023

Now that all of that is out of the way, here is the first edition of Runners on First…and Second-Guesses.

It didn’t take long for the honeymoon phase of the start of the season to come to an abrupt end. After a promising 2-0 start to the season, reality reared its ugly head and Rockies have looked pathetic ever since.

Nothing has gone right since the Rockies scored four runs in the ninth inning of the second game of the season. They have been outscored 4-17 in their current three-game losing streak.

Let’s start with the offense where the Rockies have only managed one home run and are averaging nine strikeouts a game. Trevor Story has been awful since hitting his first home run on Opening Day. He has one hit in his last 16 at-bats, striking out seven times and has stranded 10 runners on base. This must to improve as David Dahl and Nolan Arenado have done a good job at setting the table for him.

For all of the talk of how well Ian Desmond has been hitting the ball from the guys on the AT&T SportsNet broadcast, it hasn’t translated into results. Desmond is only 2-for-17 with a pair of RBI to start the season. Even with his updated batting stance, he appears to be the same old disappointing Desmond.

Chris Iannetta and Tony Wolters are once again creating a black hole at the catcher’s spot. Even with Wolters’ breakout 2-for-4 performance on Friday night, the eight-hole in the Rockies lineup has failed to produce and flip the lineup over.

Tony “Three-Bags” and his fabulous mustache is a great defender … but the Rockies are going to regret not giving Tom Murphy a chance at proving his worth at the big league stage, at least to start the season. Instead, they lost him to waivers and were forced to pick up Drew Butera … which seriously jeopardizes the organization’s depth at catcher.

On the pitching side, the Rockies already are finding out that the back end of the rotation needs to find some consistency. Tyler Anderson and Chad Bettis were both roughed up in their first starts of the season. Sadly, this isn’t surprising. Both of these starters have been inconsistent throughout their careers and their jobs could be in jeopardy as Antonio Senzatela works his way off the Injured List.

Also, the need for prospect Peter Lambert to become MLB-ready might just have been sped up.

The euphoria that is the start of the season quickly wearing off with the early disappointing play of the Rockies. If you disagree with some of my complaints or have some of your own, let us know in the comments section below or through social media.