Colorado Rockies: 3 things we learned from the San Diego Padres series

It’s going to take a team, especially in the bullpen

One of the most popular sayings that Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black shares with the media is that it’s going to take every man on the active roster for the Rockies to come through when he is called upon for the Rockies to win. With the bullpen events of the weekend and the tough schedule that lies ahead for Colorado, that saying is going to be tested and a marker of just how well the Rockies make it through August.

Colorado has one scheduled off day in the entire month of August. That comes on August 13 and is sandwiched between a run of games that are 13 and 20 days in length. Pitching depth for the Rockies will be tested, especially with Sunday’s news about Scott Oberg likely being lost for the season and Wade Davis (who has performed much better on the road than at Coors Field over the last season-plus) shelved with a right shoulder strain.

That means Black will have to figure out who will handle the late-inning pressure situations … and don’t be surprised if it isn’t just one guy. Jairo Diaz, Carlos Estevez, and Tyler Kinley are the leading candidates for the job, but with that many games in a row, don’t be surprised if it becomes a closer by committee.

We saw some mixed results in the series finale. Daniel Bard continues to impress, throwing a scoreless inning, but James Pazos made his first appearance of 2020 on Sunday and struggled to keep the Padres off the bases or the scoreboard before Black was forced to pull him and insert Estevez, who promptly gave up a bases-loaded triple off the out of town scoreboard in right field to Wil Myers before escaping the jam.

However, Estevez couldn’t close the door on the Padres in the ninth and Diaz had to come in and record the final out. He needed just one pitch to retire Manny Machado and earn his first save of the season.

It very well could have been that even with Oberg and Davis available and the schedule laid out as it is. However, now it’s going to take every reliever stepping up and filling in where needed … and doing it well.