3 Winners and 2 Losers from series loss vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Rockies are still looking for their first series win of the 2024 season. After a tough series loss that saw the team come up just short of getting their revenge on the vastly underrated Diamondbacks squad, the Rockies need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

This team needs to make some changes; the changes don't have to be drastic ones like designating certain players for assignment or sending down and calling up certain players. The deployment of these players, the matchups, playing time and spot in the batting lineup need to be seriously examined.

Surprisingly the pitching was a lot better over this homestand and a huge factor in the Rockies salvaging a win in this series. There are still some questions about longevity and consistency, but as far as the last week in concerned, the pitching has surprisingly been a strength (the starting pitching that is... more on that later). With the day off today, I wanted to recap the Diamondbacks series and talk about who performed well and who didn't.

Winner: The Rockies starting pitching was the best we have seen in awhile

The story early on this season was how bad the starting pitching was. The first series was extremely terrible as the starting pitching just got absolutely blown up. We knew this staff was going to struggle, but I don't think anyway expected what we saw. Through the first eight games of the year, it was nearly impossible for the offense to keep up with how bad the pitching was. In those eight games the starting pitching only threw 33.2 innings, with a ridiculous 9.36 ERA, allowing 13.83 hits per nine. The pitchers just really struggled to command the zone with 5.08 walks per nine and only 6.42 strikeouts per nine innings.

The last five games the pitching has been one of the biggest bright spots for this team. Ryan Feltner kicked this run off with one of the best starts in Rockies history at Coors Field (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) and it just continued from there. Over the last five games, Rockies pitchers have dominated the opponents, (29 IP, 3.41 ERA, 9 H/9, 2.17 BB/9, 8.07 K/9). As you can see here, the biggest thing is the ability to command the zone. Gomber, who has struggled the most with walks prior to Wednesday's start, only walked two over six innings. This pitching looks a lot different and while this level may not continue, if they can be fairly close to this, this team will surely win more games than they have so far.

Winner: Ezequiel Tovar looks poised to reward the Rockies for the contract extension

Ezequiel Tovar was one of the bright spots for a bad Rockies team last year. The gold glove level shortstop put together a number of highlight reel worth plays, always giving fans something to look forward to in a tough year. The offense was solid for Tovar last year, but you could see there was certainly room for improvement.

An improvement would be a significant understatement and disservice to what Tovar has been able to do this year. The shortstop has been a driving force, especially at the top of this lineup, slashing .333/.396/.542 with a 26.4% strikeout rate, while his walk rate has nearly doubled to 7.5%. He has two home runs and a stolen base through 13 games (24 home run pace). His wRC+ sits at 143.

Tovar was even better against the Diamondbacks (7 for 14 with 9 total bases, and 2 RBI). If he can continue these improvements and offensive production, we could be looking at the next great Rockies shortstop, now that the Rockies have locked Tovar up long term.

Loser: These 2 were expected to be key contributors in the middle of the lineup

Please move him out of the lineup...this is hard to watch

Struggles are the theme of this team early on. The pitching got the biggest blame here after a terrible start, but as we talked about before, they took it upon themselves and really flipped the script there, being the brightest spot in the homestand.

Struggles have followed Kris Bryant around in his time with the Rockies and this year is no different. Bryant seemed healthy this year and expected to be a key contributor, but he has hurt this team a lot more than helped them so far. On the season he is slashing just .100/.234/.175 with a strikeout of nearly 32%. He has put up a dismal 13 wRC+.

In the series against the Diamondbacks alone, he struggled mightily (1 for 12, 1 BB and 2 K). He just couldn't come through in big situations and there is no reason that he should continue to get this many at-bats, and when he does, they surely shouldn't be in the middle of the lineup.

Rockies superstar has struggled, but looks like he is ready to take off any moment

The Rockies suspected superstar just hasn't figured it out so far this year. That doesn't mean he won't, however, and he looks like he is just missing pitches. Nolan Jones is by far this teams most talented player, but he has really struggled early on.

In just 13 games, Jones has yet to him a home run, striking out more than 40% of the time, while slashing just .157/.246/.235, which is good for a 24 wRC+. Jones struggles got even worse at home against the Diamondbacks (.083/.154/.083 with a 53.8% strikeout rate in the series). Not only that, but Jones has made some really blunders in left field after putting together a really solid defensive season.

Jones is way too good of a player for these struggles to continue for too much longer. He put together one of the better rookie seasons in Rockies history and things will change for the young, budding superstar. He looks like he is just missing pitches, and it will take just one breakout game for him to go on a tear and change the season.

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