Colorado Rockies balance perception, reality, and the trolls of social media

Ryan McMahon isn’t out there throwing in the ninth inning to try to earn the save like Bard. On the opposite end of the spectrum, McMahon is looking to add to Colorado’s lead heading into the later innings so that Bard’s job is easier.

While Bard will get the heat after a blown save, that doesn’t mean the trolling after a subpar performance is reserved just for pitchers. McMahon has seen plenty of it as well on nights when an 0-for-4 outing or error might show up in the box score.

“One thing we do is we compare who get the worst DMs (direct messages) on the bus,” McMahon said while in Chicago. “Sometimes we’ll be sitting on the bus, just hanging out. We had a bad game and somebody will say, ‘Hey, I got a pretty interesting one last night. What did you get?’ It’s part of it.

“My personal opinion is that if you’re taking to that (social media) to make someone feel bad or something like that, your opinion wouldn’t mean anything to me anyway because I don’t think you’re a good person.”

And dealing with those who don’t have the best intentions are part of the problem with the balance of personal and professional life on social media for professional athletes. There are players, like Rockies pitcher Austin Gomber, who may not be active on social media, but have spouses or significant others who are.

Gomber said that he gets why fans and members of the media might monitor his wife’s social media feed, looking for any bit of news or information, especially after his trade from St. Louis to Colorado before the season began.

“There are people out there who are trying to find answers, right?” Gomber asks. “If I was in charge of finding answers, I would probably use that too.”

Like Bard and McMahon, Gomber has seen some negative social media comments pop up after a tough outing, but added, “Those don’t affect me at all.”