3 things that could impact Colorado Rockies in second half of season

Having just passed the halfway point of the 2020 regular season, the Colorado Rockies stand just above .500 with a 16-15 record.

The 16-15 mark pales in comparison to what Colorado Rockies fans hoped would be the case at this juncture, particularly after Colorado bolted out of the starting gate this season by winning 11 of its first 14 games to stand atop the National League West for the season’s first two weeks.

But there were a few signs evident in the just completed three-game road series sweep with Arizona that might indicate the Rox have begun to return to their winning ways from earlier in the campaign.

As the Rockies embark on the season’s second half by preparing to open a six-game homestand against NL West foes San Diego (four games) and San Francisco (two games), here are three things that could have an impact on the team’s chances to grab one of the NL’s eight playoff berths at the end of the regular season.

1. Consistent pitching from Jon Gray can only enhance an already solid Rox starting pitching rotation

After a pair of no decisions in July in which he compiled a 2.61 earned run average in 10.1 innings, Gray notched back-to-back losses to San Francisco and Arizona before a steady outing (7.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 7 K) in a home win — his first of the season — against Texas on August 16 before only lasting 3.2 innings (7 H, 4 ER, 0 K) in a road loss against the Dodgers last Friday.

In the Arizona contest August 10 at Coors Field, the right-hander was roughed up by the Diamondbacks, surrendering 11 hits and eight earned runs in only 3.1 innings.

But in a return matchup with Arizona Wednesday night in Phoenix, Gray avenged his earlier outing with his his best performance of the season. In six innings, he allowed just three hits and one earned run while whiffing five in the Rox 8-7 victory.

“The last start against them was rough. Shoot, I can’t remember how many hits they had,” Gray, now 2-3 on the season, told Rox Pile and other media members on Thursday. “But I just felt like we got ahead of guys. Our put-away pitches were really good. Everything that I threw was really aggressive in the strike zone. I really wanted to beat them in the zone. We had a lot better results that way. “I just want to see that carry over,” he added. “I want to see it two or three starts in a row. That would really make me happy. But it’s definitely a good one to build off of.”