Colorado Rockies: Forget misconceptions, Ian Desmond has been good

It was a great month to be the Colorado Rockies and Nolan Arenado. Both had an unbelievable month of May, as the Rockies are finally back over .500 after going 16-10 and Arenado is in prime position to win the NL Player of the Month which will soon be announced.

However, Nolan Arenado‘s performance and all of the Colorado Rockies‘ recent walk-off wins has overshadowed the solid play of someone who Rockies’ fans have learned to love to hate. That player is none other than Ian Desmond.

Forget all of the misconceptions because, believe it or not, Ian Desmond quietly had himself one his best months since joining the Rockies two seasons ago. Flying under the radar, Desmond batted .319 with three home runs, two triples, seven doubles, 9 RBI, 16 runs, 13 walks and 1.027 OPS in 72 at-bats and has shown little signs of slowing down. He is currently in the middle of a six-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games.

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Let’s face it, he will never live up to his monstrous $70 million contract that he signed before the 2017 season. Detractors will still point to Desmond’s slow start to the season, his current .250/.326/.470 line and his exceedingly high strikeout rate. However, gone are days when the “Mendoza Watch” was in full effect as he was batting in the .190s back in early May. Now he has raised his batting average 52 points over the last month. Also, his ground ball/fly ball ratio is the lowest it has been in his 11-year career, which has been a major issue for him last couple of seasons.

Obviously, Desmond still has his flaws and can drive fans insane with some very untimely mistakes but, right now, who cares? Let’s all enjoy the fact that the Rockies are playing winning baseball and that Ian Desmond has been a key contributor to that success.