Colorado Rockies: Three trends we noticed in the Chicago Cubs series

Coming off a 9-1 homestand, the Colorado Rockies knew that hitting the road for a three-game series in Chicago against the Cubs would be challenging. Not only was this the team that the Rockies knocked out of the National League postseason last year, but the Cubs are also a squad that Colorado will likely be competing with for a postseason bid in 2019.

Adding to the Colorado Rockies’ challenges in Chicago were the fact that All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon would not be available to come off the injured list as originally thought and there were still plenty of questions with the rotation. That included how Jeff Hoffman would fare as he continues to find his footing on a Major League mound and how prospect Peter Lambert would fare in his Major League debut during his Thursday start.

Colorado dropped the first two games of the series before Lambert dazzled in the Thursday matinee, helping the Rockies avoid a sweep. Now at 32-29 for the season, the Rockies head to the Big Apple for a three-game series against the New York Mets, beginning on Friday.

But before we completely turn our attention to the Mets, let’s look back at three of the things that stood out during Colorado’s 1-2 stint at Wrigley Field.

Decisions coming in the outfield

Charlie Blackmon’s return not only will hopefully boost the lineup but will also cause some shifting around with the outfield.

As we discussed in the previous slide, Tapia has struggled in recent games at the plate. He’s also shown some less-than-desirable defense while at Wrigley Field as well, including a misplay on Tuesday night and an overthrow on Wednesday night.

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Blackmon’s absence has created a situation where there haven’t been many opportunities for Tapia or David Dahl to have a day off. Garrett Hampson has spelled Ian Desmond briefly but the outfield has been very consistent with its Tapia-Desmond-Dahl look since Blackmon went out with an injury on May 24.

That consistency is getting ready to be turned upside down, however, with Blackmon once again taking over in right field. That leaves Desmond and Dahl in center while Tapia and Dahl will be available in left.

Remember, there has not been a lot of moving outfield positions around with this year’s squad. Tapia has played just one game (11 innings against Tampa Bay on April 3) in right field and that’s the only time he has played anywhere other than left this season. Desmond has only played center field and Blackmon has only played right. Dahl, meanwhile, has played all three positions.

Expect Dahl to move around more in the outfield with Blackmon’s return and Bud Black to take advantage of Dahl’s current hot streak at the plate. He went 1-for-4 on Thursday to lower his batting average to .335, including hitting .476 in June.

Inconsistent pitching continues to be a problem

Colorado’s strength was on the mound in 2018. So far this season, it has been anything but that.

OK, certainly Peter Lambert’s debut on Thursday was a site for sore eyes for Rockies fans who have seen their rotation post a combined 5.40 ERA and Colorado have a total 5.07 ERA (27thin Major League Baseball). Just as a reminder of how special Thursday was, Lambert’s nine strikeouts were a franchise record for a pitcher in his Rockies debut.

Colorado Rockies

There’s the good news. The bad news is that inconsistency has become way too common on the mound this year.

German Marquez, who has come through in big ways for the Rockies this season, has also had some clunkers on the mound, including Wednesday’s outing where he allowed eight runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work. Sure, three of those runs came around on a bases-clearing double surrendered by Chris Rusin but Marquez hit two batters and gave up a single to load the bases and force Rusin into the game.

Marquez has allowed four or more runs in four of his seven starts since the beginning of May. He’s considered the strongest member of the rotation (which has just Marquez and Jon Gray left from the five-man rotation that started the season) and has flipped between dominant to just OK and back several times this season.

Both he and Hoffman were victimized in Chicago by, as Bud Black has said, not making critical pitches at critical times. As long as the inconsistency remains and Colorado starters are still giving up big hits at the worst possible moments, the Rockies offense will have to stay red-hot to bail out the pitching.