Colorado Rockies podcast: The surprises of the 2022 season so far

The Colorado Rockies have surprised most of the baseball world with their hot start but with the talent they acquired this offseason and their schedule, it shouldn’t be as surprising as some are making of it. Instead, people should be more surprised at how they have done it.

The Colorado Rockies’ weaknesses of 2021 have been their strengths of 2022

On this episode of the Rox Pile Rockies Report, my co-expert Kevin Henry is on assignment scouting international prospects and getting a head start on getting his saucepans reseasoned so this week, Patrick Lyons of DNVR Rockies joins us to talk about some of the surprises of the Colorado Rockies on the season so far.

Entering the 2022 season, the strength of the team was their starting rotation but entering Tuesday, their starting rotation was, arguably, the worst in baseball.

They had a 4.69 ERA through Tuesday, which was 18th. Their FIP suggests that they have had some bad luck as they had a 3.76 FIP, but that was still 12th. They also had an rWAR of 0.7, which was 15th.

Instead, their bullpen and their offense have been the keys to the team.

Entering Tuesday, they had a 1.88 ERA, which is the lowest in baseball. They had a 3.07 FIP (fifth-best) and a 0.9 fWAR (second-best).

Offensively, they had a team wRC+ of 114, which was 8th in baseball. They were hitting .282/.348/.457, which was first, fifth, and first in baseball.

Specifically, their DHs have hit extremely well. Entering Tuesday, their DHs were hitting .338/.411/.713 with a wRC+ of 197, or 97 above league average.

Last year, both the bullpen and offense were in the bottom five in nearly every category.

We also discuss what Patrick has seen and heard in the press box and on the field at Coors Field this year as well.

Going forward, the Rockies wrap up their homestand this afternoon against the Phillies. After an off day on Thursday, the Rockies will head to Detroit and we discuss the last time they played in Detroit in 2014.

After that, they will head to Philadelphia to face the Phillies again. After that series, the Phillies and Rockies won’t see each other again in 2022 (unless they face off in the postseason).

You can listen to our podcast wherever you download your podcasts or you can click the play button below.