Colorado Rockies: The only statistic that matters for the Rockies

In the age of Sabermetrics and “Moneyball,” the game of baseball has become bombarded by obscure stats that many believe will determine a team’s success or failure throughout the 162-game season. But there’s only one stat that really matters for the Colorado Rockies.

All offseason, every possible stat imaginable has been combed through as the Colorado Rockies look for ways to not repeat the disappointing 71-91 outcome of last season.  From WAR to Park Adjusted Stats to others with acronyms that few people have ever heard of, these numbers have gotten out of control.

Apologies to our own Kevin Larson, who is the Rox Pile’s resident Sabermetric guru and is a fantastic follow on Twitter @SABRSkeptic for anyone who loves a deep dive into statistics, but sometimes it is the simplest of stats that is all that is needed.

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The only stat that matters is the number 758. That is the most runs the Rockies have ever given up in a post-humidor season and still made the playoffs (783 runs were allowed in the 1995 playoff season).

In the consecutive playoff runs of 2017 and 2018, the Rockies gave up 757 and 745 runs respectively. In the 2007 World Series run and in ’09, runs against were at that magical 758 and 715. To put those numbers into perspective, the Rockies lost 91 games last season when that number ballooned to an outrageous 958.

What 758 runs means is that the Rockies are giving up a little less than 4.7 runs per game.  With the firepower of Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon, and others, it is hard to believe that this offense would struggle to score a minimum of 5 runs in a game on a regular basis especially at Coors Field.

As much as we try to complicate the game of baseball, it is still a very simple game. Good pitching always prevails over good hitting. If the Rockies are going to make the playoffs in 2020, it will be an improved pitching staff that gets them there.