Rockies vs. Rays: Rox can’t close the door in series loss

The Positives

I will continue to give Victor Vodnik his flowers until he no longer deserves it. After another clean outing on Sunday, Vodnik has pitched 7.2 scoreless innings this season and showed out. Nick Mears continues to look like a backend bullpen weapon. Despite being credited with two losses, Dakota Hudson has been incredibly solid to begin the 2024 campaign. Ryan Feltner was dominant in his six innings of 10 strikeout ball, lowering his season ERA to 3.27. Jake Cave has looked like a solid fourth outfielder, hitting .429 in his limited at bats so far. Nolan Jones, Ezequiel Tovar, and Elias Diaz all turned in strong offensive series, and the offense as a whole looked much stronger back at home.

The Negatives

The bullpen looked incredibly shaky, giving up 11 earned runs in the first two games of the series. Tyler Kinley struggled giving up three runs in 0.2 innings in Saturday’s loss, and Jalen Beeks couldn’t record an out in his relief appearance. Charlie Blackmon’s hot start died down this series, going 1-12 in the three-game set. After three series this season, Brendan Rodgers is still hitting a measly .147 with a .377 OPS.