Colorado Rockies morning after: 3 overreactions from the win over Arizona

The Colorado Rockies snapped a four-game losing streak on Wednesday night by hopping all over the Arizona Diamondbacks and starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner early and often.

With the 8-0 victory, the Rockies not only righted the ship in a big way on a chilly night in downtown Denver, but also showed some good signs at the plate and on the mound.

Here are three overreactions on the Colorado Rockies win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Keep Hampson at the top of the lineup

Garrett Hampson came into Tuesday’s game with 101 career plate appearances in the leadoff spot. Here’s hoping he gains more than that in the top spot this season alone.

Hampson showed just how he could be a spark for the Rockies on Wednesday night, opening the game with a base hit and then stealing second before Chris Owings brought him home with an RBI triple.

It would be part of a 2-for-3 night for Hampson (scoring three runs and stealing three bases as well), who isn’t just randomly finding success at the plate this season. He’s been very purposeful with every at-bat.

Hall went on to note that Hampson started Wednesday with a four-pitch RBI single and seven-pitch walk.

With Raimel Tapia struggling to open the season, hitting just .190 (4-of-21), Hampson can provide a spark at the top while Tapia rediscovers his swing.

“Tap needs to concentrate more on line drives and using the whole field. I think that’s a strength,” Rockies manager Bud Black said on Wednesday. “Sometimes Tap’s swing can get a little big and long. I think we’ve seen that the last few games, after his home run.”

Black said that Hampson would be the leadoff hitter on Thursday as well. That’s a very good thing for the Rockies offense.

The 2020 Senzatela is back

Heading into the season, one of the biggest questions regarding the rotation was whether Antonio Senzatela could keep up the improvements he showed during a 2020 season when he led the Rockies in both wins (five) and ERA (3.44) across 12 starts. He also pitched the only complete game of the season with a September 15 gem against Oakland.

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After a disappointing first outing of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers, lasting just 3.1 innings and giving up seven earned runs on nine hits, Senzatela was back in fine form on Wednesday. The right-hander threw eight strong innings, allowing just four hits in a 96-pitch beauty.

“Our starting rotation, they take a lot of pride in who they are and what they’ve accomplished, especially in our playoff years,” Black said. “So they’re ready to get back into that groove of being a very consistent starting rotation and each guy, as a part of that, they’re going to pull their own weight.”

With Kyle Freeland sidelined, a Rockies rotation that grows in quality and consistency would be a key for a Colorado team looking for positives early in the campaign.

Trevor Story has angered the baseball gods

We talked about it some in this article, but Colorado’s All-Star shortstop is still looking for that first long ball of the season. He once again came close on Wednesday, sending a ball 389 feet to just in front of the Bridich Barrier for an out.

After an 0-for-5 night on Wednesday, Story is hitting just .185 this season but has an expected batting average of .316. That’s some bad luck that will likely level out soon for Story. Until then, he might want to offer up some rum to Jobu or figure out some other way to get back on track.