3 things the Colorado Rockies can learn from the Atlanta Braves

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Aug 18, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Daniel Bard (52) reacts after a game against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

The Atlanta Braves were playing sub-.500 ball until early August. In fact, they were in third place in the NL East with a 52-55 record entering play on August 3. They went 36-18 in the final third of the season, which was enough to win the NL East by 6.5 games and, eventually, win the World Series. The Colorado Rockies faced the Braves six times in those final 54 games and they won four of them.

But the Colorado Rockies can still learn a lot from the Atlanta Braves on how to build a winning team.

Here are three things that the Colorado Rockies should learn from the Atlanta Braves.

1) The Colorado Rockies must improve the bullpen

In today’s game, a good bullpen is the biggest key to having a playoff team and the Atlanta Braves are a prime example.

Here are the top teams by bullpen ERA from August 3 on:

Giants, 2.38 (best record in baseball)
Dodgers 2.48 (2nd-best record in baseball
New York Yankees 3.16 (2nd AL Wild Card team)
Atlanta 3.34 (World Series Champions)

In the playoffs, if you include their “starters,” who were actually relievers used as a “starter” in a bullpen game, the Braves bullpen had an ERA of 3.32 in 78 2/3 IP in the postseason.

The Colorado Rockies bullpen, overall, on the season was 26th (4.91 ERA). It did improve as the Rockies bullpen ERA was 16th from August 3 through the rest of the season (4.14 ERA) but it is nowhere near where the Rockies need it to be contenders.

Apr 27, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Mychal Givens (60) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports /

2) The Atlanta Braves did something at the trade deadline. The Colorado Rockies didn’t.

The Atlanta Braves were under .500 but their GM, Alex Anthopoulos, made moves to build on their foundation and the moves worked. He acquired a slew of outfielders after their outfield was decimated from Ronald Acuna, Jr.’s injury and Marcell Ozuna’s injury and aggravated assault accusation. Two of them were Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler. Rosario was the NLCS MVP and Soler was the World Series MVP. The Colorado Rockies did the exact opposite.

In 2018, when the Colorado Rockies were in playoff contention, they did virtually nothing (they traded for reliever Seunghwan Oh). And what did it get them? One playoff win.

In 2021, the Colorado Rockies were not (and should not have been) buyers but they should have been sellers. They could have traded Mychal Givens, Trevor Story, Jon Gray, and many others. What did they do? They traded Givens and kept Story and Gray, both of whom are unlikely to resign with the Rockies, now that the Rockies lowballed Gray.

Even by receding for 2021, the Rockies could have gotten some prospects to replenish their depleted farm system and build for the future. Instead, they did virtually nothing, and guess what they got in return? A mediocre team with a non-top 10 draft pick and a poor farm system.

Rox Pile’s Kevin Henry caught up with former Rockies infielder and current Braves coach Eric Young, Sr. about losing Acuna, Jr. and the Braves moves at the deadline in this article for our sister site, Call To The Pen.

HOUSTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 26: Charlie Morton #50 of the Atlanta Braves delivers the pitch against the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game One of the World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 26, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

3) The Colorado Rockies must have more depth in nearly every area

One of the biggest strengths of the Atlanta Braves is that they had a lot of depth and every person who has watched the Colorado Rockies has not had any depth in their organization for years.

The Braves outfield depth was thin after the accusations against Ozuna and the injury to Acuna, Jr. so they got Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, and Adam Duvall but that was one instance. They had much more depth in the minors and, specifically, good depth.

Braves ace Charlie Morton suffered a fractured fibula during Game 1 of the World Series and starter Huascar Ynoa was removed off the roster in the NLCS due to injury. They didn’t have a starting pitcher the caliber of Morton or Ynoa to turn to but they were able to add Dylan Lee and Tucker Davidson to the roster.

Lee, 27, only had two MLB appearances in the regular season but he had an ERA of 1.54 in 35 relief appearances in Triple-A.

Davidson, 25, was injured for most of the season but he appeared in eight games (all starts) during the regular season (four in Triple-A and four in the majors). He had an ERA of 1.17 in Triple-A and an ERA of 3.60 in the majors.

They also had:

Kyle Wright (10-5, 3.02 ERA, 24 starts in Triple-A)
Jacob Webb (4.19 ERA in 34 regular season relief appearances)
Kyle Muller (4.17 ERA in 36 2/3 IP in the majors and 3.39 ERA in 17 starts in Triple-A)
Touki Touissant (MLB.com’s #50 overall prospect who had a 4.50 ERA in 50 MLB innings in 2021)
Sean Newcomb (4.73 ERA in 32 relief appearances in the majors who was one of their best relievers in 2019 and had a 3.90 ERA in 164 innings in 2018)

There were even more pitchers who could have replaced them, like Josh Tomlin and Tanner Roark (both former big league starters with seven or more years of MLB service time).

The Braves also had numerous position player options like

Orlando Arcia (nearly 600 games played in the majors)
John Camargo (more than 350 MLB games)
Top prospect Christian Pache
Top prospect Drew Waters
Two-time All-Star Jason Kipnis
Former Gold Glove winner Yolmer Sanchez
Two-time All-Star Stephen Vogt
Terrance Gore (who was added to the roster when Soler was placed on the COVID-IL in the postseason. He has been a “pinch-runner” for winning teams for years. He has 3 World Series rings now and a total of 67 MLB PA’s)
Chadwick Tromp, who has played in the majors in parts of the last two seasons

All of those players were contributors to the Gwinnett Braves, who went 71-58 (.550 winning percentage) in 2021 and, with the exception of Pache and Waters, all of the players had at least one year of service time in the majors and many of them with more as well as postseason experience.

Triple-A Albuquerque, the Rockies Triple-A affiliate, went 58-72 (.446 winning percentage).

Next. The Rockies 2022 dream lineup. dark

Every team suffers injuries and, often, they are big injuries. It’s how teams weather those injuries. Teams like the Atlanta Braves have enough depth to win. The Colorado Rockies have consistently shown that they do not. That’s why Ryan Feltner, who was in Double-A, was called up when the Rockies lost two starters in September and not somebody in Triple-A. Teams that have organizational depth usually don’t have to do that.

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