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: McMahon continues to carry this offense

Ryan McMahon is a fan favorite and, being one of the veterans, was going to be expected to produce in the middle of this lineup. He has been consistent over his career, but a more than 5% increase in his strikeout rate from 2022 to 2023, had a lot of fans worried about where his career was headed.

He has immediately shut down those concerns so far this year. Not only is Mac slashing .383/.464/.553 (good for a 164 wRC+), but he is controlling the zone a lot more than he did last year, He looks more confident and comfortable so far. His strikeout rate has been cut down by more than 10% (21.4% so far this year), while his walk rate has increase 3.5% to 14.3%, both of which are elite numbers. Mac continued his dominance against the Diamondbacks (4 for 11 with two RBIs and an excellent 3BB/3K ratio) and continues to carry this offense; he even won them a game on a walk-off grand slam. If he can continue to look this comfortable at the plate, he could be in for a huge year.

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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