Rockies vs. Diamondbacks: Defending NL Champs offense too much for Rockies

The Rundown

The Rockies quest to improve upon the worst season in franchise history began in Arizona on Thursday. After a solid spring, Kyle Freeland took the mound for his 3rd career opening day start. Unfortunately, he ran into an offensive juggernaut in Arizona, resulting in a miserable 14 run third inning powered by a monster five RBI night from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. A Ryan McMahon RBI double in the second was all the Rockies could muster up offensively, the night mercifully ended in a 16-1 loss for the Rockies.

Game 2 was more of the same, as new addition Cal Quantrill labored through five innings of five run ball. The Rockies offense showed signs of life scoring three runs off seven hits, but a three-run homer by Alek Thomas off of Jake Bird in the sixth, seemingly put the game to bed in route to a 7-3 Diamondbacks victory. After falling down 2-0 in the first, the Rockies battled back, answering with two in the second courtesy of an Ezequiel Tovar home run. Austin Gomber battled through 4.2 innings to keep the game close, until the Rox were able to break through with a five spot in the fifth inning, powered by a Charlie Blackmon double and a Nolan Jones triple. Brenton Doyle added some insurance with a solo shot, and although he looked a bit shaky to start the outing, Justin Lawrence was able to come in and close the door for the first win of the season.

Much to the dismay of Rockies fans, the win did not muster any momentum, as game four of the series was another stagnant performance. The Rockies scattered eight hits but could only muster up one run against Brandon Pfaadt, as Lourdes Gurriel continued to torture them. Gurriel finished the series with a .471 batting average, three home runs, and 10 RBI. After a defensive meltdown in the first inning, Ryan Feltner was able to turn in five decent innings and three earned runs, but the defensive miscues proved too much to overcome in the 5-1 loss. 

The Positives

Victor Vodnik turned in four scoreless innings of relief. With both outings being two innings, Vodnik could fill a multi-inning, Swiss army knife role that has proven so valuable in today’s MLB. Nick Mears looked absolutely nasty in his two appearances, including striking out the side in game two of the series. Described by the broadcast booth as a “future closer,” Mears showed off his elite stuff, sitting at 97 mph while topping 98, and was unhittable in his two outings.

Although the results may not have been there, Elehuris Montero’s at bats were a sign of good things to come. After an abysmal 111-15 strikeout to walk ratio in just 85 games in 2023, Montero tallied three walks on Saturday and multiple hard-hit balls throughout the series. Hopefully, Montero can continue adopting a better approach at the plate through the season to improve on last season’s obscene chase rate and K rate numbers. Jalen Beeks looked solid in 2.2 clean innings of work. And even at age 37, Charlie Blackmon is still a good hitter. What’s new?

The Negatives

Poor Anthony Molina had a brutal MLB debut, giving up six runs in 0.1 innings of work in game one of the season. Although he turned in a few good at bats, Nolan Jones struggled to get going, resulting in a measly 2-16 on the series, including an error on a routine pop up in Sunday’s series finale. Kris Bryant decided not to wake up for the season, going 0-10 with seven strikeouts to start the season, further calling into question the $182 million dollar contract Colorado shelled out for a former MVP. Rockies starters, the biggest question mark coming into the season, gave up nine, first inning runs this series, a recipe for disaster if they can’t clean that up moving forward.