Colorado Rockies: 3 hitters who took advantage of Coors Field in 2020

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DENVER, COLORADO – JULY 10: Sam Hilliard of the Colorado Rockies takes batting practice during summer workouts at Coors Field on July 10, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Ask any baseball fan about the Colorado Rockies and they’ll likely talk about hitting at Coors Field. With that in mind, let’s look back at three hitters who took advantage of their home environment in 2020.

The 2020 campaign was a disappointing one for the Colorado Rockies, who finished with a 26-34 mark. That includes a 12-18 mark at home, where they went 9-11 against both foes from the National League West and those American League West teams who paid Denver a visit.

Another interesting stat we saw about the Rockies at Coors Field last season is that opposing teams hit more homers (43) at 20th and Blake than Colorado (35). It was part of a season where Colorado hit just 63 homers overall, finishing 11th out of the 15 NL teams in that category.

But let’s look at more than just homers in this article. Let’s dive into which players took advantage in 2020 of playing at Coors Field. We looked into the stats to find three players who hit well and, yes, we’ll tell you just how they fared on the road in comparison.

Sam Hilliard

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We’ll start with Hilliard. The 26-year-old outfielder, because of playing time and spending some time at Colorado’s alternate training site, played in just 13 games at home (totaling 35 at-bats). However, despite the small sample size, when he was on the field in Denver, he made the most of it, slashing .314/.368/.457. However, only one of his six homers on the season came in Denver. The other five came on the road.

But while Hilliard had more power on the road, he also struggled much more overall at the plate. Playing in 23 road games and logging 70 at-bats (exactly double the number he gathered in Denver in 2020), Hilliard hit .157/.224/.429. He also struck out 35 times in those 70 at-bats (he struck out only seven times in 35 at-bats in Denver).

Josh Fuentes

After being recalled from the alternate training site on August 20, Fuentes became a mainstay in the Colorado lineup, anchoring first base as Daniel Murphy slumped horribly and would eventually see little playing time as the season wound down.

Fuentes took the field in half (30) of Colorado’s 60 games last season, and just six of those came in August. Of those 30 games, 16 came on the road. In those contests, Fuentes posted a .235/.278/.373 slash line with one homer and eight RBI.

At Denver, the home run and RBI production for Fuentes were almost similar (one homer and nine RBI), but the slash numbers at the plate were higher. The 27-year-old Fuentes hit .383/.367/.511. Diving into the numbers deeper, Fuentes didn’t draw a walk in his 14 games at Coors Field (but he drew just a pair in his road outings).

Daniel Murphy

Yes, Fuentes supplanted Murphy once Labor Day passed. While Murphy’s tenure in Denver ended with a thud and became yet another veteran free agent signing that didn’t work for the Rockies, Murphy did have his moments at Coors Field in 2020.

Despite hitting just 2-for-25 overall in September (.080), the 35-year-old Murphy hit .281/.313/.406 in 64 at-bats over 20 games. That included what could be argued was the highlight for him overall when he pinch hit in the ninth against the San Diego Padres in late August and drove in the winning run (one of just 16 RBI Murphy logged in 2020).

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Away from Coors (in 59 at-bats over 20 games), Murphy slashed just .186/.234/.254. It was just part of a disappointing two-year run in purple for Murphy.

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Ask any baseball fan about the Colorado Rockies and they’ll likely talk about hitting at Coors Field. With that in mind, let’s look back at three hitters who took advantage of their home environment in 2020.

Sam Hilliard

Josh Fuentes

Daniel Murphy

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