September stat roundup: Colorado Rockies standouts

There wasn’t much to be all that excited about coming into September. The Colorado Rockies had just finished two absolutely putrid months that were so bad it had most fans turning their full attention to the Denver Broncos (which, to say the least, has been a mistake).

For the fans that stuck around, though, they were able to see quite a few positives come out of September as some of the younger guys found ways to progress and elevate their games, giving hope towards the coming seasons.

Here, we’ll highlight some of the better performances from the Rockies in September. Let’s get at it:

Garrett Hampson

To say Garrett Hampson turned around his season in September would be a massive understatement. He came into September with a woeful wRC+ of 40, a K% sitting at 30.2%, a BB% of only 7.3%, a Hard Hit Percentage of only 26.9% and an fWAR at -0.9. That was a far cry from the Hampson we saw in late 2018 who posted up a wRC+ of 108 and had some key moments to help the Rockies make the postseason.

But thanks to the much-discussed toe tap, we saw an even better version of that Garrett Hampson.

“That was definitely the main adjustment that just allowed me to be earlier and kind of free up some space inside on the inside pitch and I was able to barrel up a lot more balls,” Hampson told Rox Pile’s Kevin Henry in an exclusive chat after Sunday’s season finale.

In September, Hampson’s wRC+ jumped up to 119. A major part of this was due to his K% dropping from 30.2% all the way to 18.9%. His BB% increased slightly and he did see an increase in power. He also started hitting the ball a little harder as his Hard Hit Percentage jumped to 37.1%.

Hampson had a similar Hard Hit Percentage during the months of June and July when his wRC+ was 45 and 87 respectively. More interesting, though, is that his BABIP actually dropped from .370 in August to .354 in September. That’s not a massive difference but the jump in wRC+ from 47 in August up to 119 is September is.

That’s because speedy guys like Hampson usually have a decently high BABIP no matter what they do. So it benefits them to put the ball in play and have a low K%. By dropping his K% a little over 11% from August, Hampson was able to become one of the Rockies’ most effective hitters in September.

Some changes to his mechanics, such as the much discussed toe tap, are to thank for getting back Hampson’s timing and confidence in the box.

“You can’t have no confidence in this league, you know? You’re gonna get worn out,” Hampson reiterated.

And in September, Hampson certainly looked like a player that was back on track. While we probably should expect a little regression, as that K% isn’t gonna stay low forever, we should still feel like a wRC+ around 110 is within the realm of possibilities for Hampson in 2020.

Sam Hilliard

Talk about an entrance into the big leagues. “Slam Hillyard” (the actual correct spelling) smashed his way into the big leagues with 7 HRs and a HR/FB% of 33.3%. Five of those came in September when he posted a wRC+ of 130. He’s barreling up the ball on 8.0% of his PAs (league average is 6.0%). That would lead the Rockies if it were a season long performance.

What helps cement the idea that Hillyard can continue to do this is that his K% of 26.4% is lower than when he was in Hartford (31.2%) and Albuquerque (29.3%). He also had a lower BABIP in September (.306) than he did in than every other year he played in the minors, suggesting there may actually be a little bit more in the tank.

Defensively, it may be a bit too early to really evaluate how he’ll be going forward. Per Fangraphs, Hillyard was a below average fielder in his short month plus with the Rockies, but defensive stats always need quite a bit more data before truly being able to evaluate a defender (and even then they should be taken with a grain of salt).

In LF, “Hillyard” was at -2 DRS while in CF he was at 1. Most of his inning were played in CF so it’d be beneficial to see him play there in the future, but we’ll see how things work out next season once David Dahl is back in the mix.

Adding “Hillyard’s” bat to the lineup next season should be a positive step forward for the offense, especially if he can produce anywhere near close to his September wRC+ of 130.

Chi Chi Gonzalez

Chi Chi Gonzalez hasn’t exactly been a sign of positivity for the Rockies. He isn’t viewed favorably by much of the fan base as his presence is more due to the fact that the rotation has been riddled with injuries all season and he was, essentially, all we really had that would do. And while his season long numbers aren’t the most impressive, he turned in one hell of a September.

In September, Chi Chi posted an ERA of 1.65. ONE POINT SIX FIVE. That was good enough for an ERA- of 33. That’s just a touch above the ERA- that Jacob deGrom posted this September (31).

He turned in a WHIP of 0.99. Batters only hit for a wOBA of .237 against him. He raised his K% from 8.5% in August to 24.1% in September and turned in an FIP of 3.47 (per FanGraphs, anything at 3.50 or below is considered “Great”).

Whether you credit Ian Desmond for Gonzalez turning it around, mechanics, or something else, Gonzalez obviously pitched like he was trying to prove himself for 2020.

He may not have a spot on the rotation next season, but it certainly feels like he may have carved out a role as a long reliever or a spot starter next season.

Nolan Arenado

We can’t talk about Rockies stats without bringing up Nolan Arenado, can we?

Nolan posted up a wRC+ in September of 169. That was his second best month this season and gave him his only back-to-back months this season with a wRC+ over 100 (157 in August).

He hit 7 HRs to get his season long mark to 41 HRs, his first 40+ HR season since 2016.

What’s most impressive is his September performance helped catapult him into 2nd in the NL in WARP at 7.1. For reference, he finished tied with Trevor Story for 5th in the NL with an fWAR of 5.9 and was 7th in the NL with a bWAR of 5.7. Nolan accumulated 1.3 of his total 5.9 fWAR in September.

Another impressive stat is just how much he increased his BB%. Nolan’s always been the type of guy to have a low BB%, but this September he bumped it up from August’s 5.4% all the way to 16.5% in September. That’s probably unsustainable going into next season as Nolan generally has a BB% between 9% and 10%, but it’s a positive to see that he’s finding additional ways to get on.

Not all was lost in September and plenty of positives were there to be found. In the ending of a rough season, hopefully these positives can help put the Rockies on the right trajectory in 2020.