Colorado Rockies: They have to make a philosophical change

The Colorado Rockies have to make a philosophical change. Fans of the team have known this and rival teams know that the Rockies have not had a great philosophy on how to run a successful team. After all, there’s a reason why they have yet to win their division in the 29 seasons they’ve played entering 2022.

In recent years, though, it has been their hitting philosophy. In the past 5-10 years, other teams have turned to launch angle and exit velocity for good reason. If you hit a ball above a player and hit it hard, it will likely be an extra-base hit or a home run. The Rockies, though, haven’t gotten the memo, at least with their results on the field.

The Rockies, as a team, enter play on Friday with a groundball percentage of 47 percent. That is second-highest in the league (Washington is the highest at 47.1 percent). Colorado’s hard-hit percentage is only 27.7 percent, which is 24th in baseball.

In their last 37 games, the Rockies have the worst record in baseball at 11-26. In that span, Colorado has seen their pitching staff suffer due to a bad offense and bad defense. Despite having a 5.35 ERA in that span (27th), the pitching staff has a 3.7 fWAR and a 4.12 FIP in that span as well, which is 15th and 8th.

For the offense, they have a -0.1 fWAR in that span, making them one of only two teams to have a negative offensive WAR in that span. Their slugging percentage has only been .368 in that span, which is 26th.

As Manny Randhawa of MLB.com noted on Twitter on Thursday, the three worst seasons in Colorado’s history by OPS are the last three seasons so this isn’t anything new.

In other words, a philosophical change has to happen and it has to happen now.

The Colorado Rockies must have a change in their hitting philosophy

Colorado Rockies hitting coach Dave Magadan should be on the hot seat because he has presided over the entirety of that span. That doesn’t mean that things can’t turn around under his tutelage. In fairness, there is plenty of blame to go around.

The players can be blamed but coaches for not changing the philosophy, manager Bud Black for lineups, GM Bill Schmidt for the personnel on the roster, and, perhaps, most of all, owner Dick Monfort, who has yet to “cut bait” with players that aren’t playing well, despite saying that it was nearly time to “cut bait” with players nearly 18 months ago.

On the most recent episode of the Rox Pile Rockies Report, we discuss their philosophy extensively as well as some areas that they can improve and players that could or should be traded before the trade deadline.

The Rockies will face the Padres this weekend and series between the two clubs at Coors Field over Father’s Day weekend have been wild offensive affairs in recent years so perhaps, it will wake up Colorado’s bats. But something has to change and it has to change now.

You can listen to the episode below or download it wherever you download your podcasts.

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