Colorado Rockies: Recapping the tough early schedule and looking ahead

Let’s take a moment as I stand up and take a bow. I am going to give myself a nice pat on the back as I say I told you so about one aspect of the Colorado Rockies season.

Before the season started, I issued a stern warning that the MLB schedule-makers were not kind to the Colorado Rockies and they needed to act accordingly. For once in my life, I made a correct prediction (don’t look at my season predictions, especially my most surprising/disappointing players).

The early season schedule was brutal for the Rockies and it had a hand in their current 15-17 record. They played 32 games in 36 days (having one game postponed) with 20 road games and 16 games against teams who won more than 90 games last season.

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Even with three series against the three teams with the worst records in the National League (Miami, San Francisco, and Washington … those teams are a combined 23 games under .500), the Rockies’ opponents are still a combined two games over .500 through May 2.

It is now time to turn the page to the next chapter of the season. The Rockies return to the comfy confines of Coors Field for nine games where they will square off against each team in the National League West, excluding the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then they will head out East to face the defending champion Boston Red Sox, who are starting to show signs of life, followed by a series against the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates. Finally, they finish the month back home with series against the Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays.

With four off days scheduled in the next 18 days, the Rockies should be able to get healthier and have a rested bullpen as they need to take advantage of much more manageable month of May. The nine-game homestand will also give them chance to keep the offense going after it finally got hot in the last two games in Milwaukee.

The pennant wasn’t lost in April, but the Rockies sure did try to (at least in the first two weeks). They have slowly righted the ship, but the current 15-17 record shows that there is still some heavy lifting left to be done. A lighter May schedule could be exactly what they need to get back into the thick of things.