They Couldn’t Have Been That Bad Last Year, Could They?

The good news is almost the entire offense is back. That includes third baseman Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, shortstop Trevor Story and center fielder David Dahl. Overall they were sixth in average and in slugging but tenth in on-base percentage, second in sacrifice flies and sacrifice bunts. 

The bad news is almost all of the pitching is back too. Second to the bottom in runs allowed —between Baltimore and Detroit— is not a good place to be. The term crap sandwich comes to mind, which is exactly what Nolan Arenado is thinking when he complains about a team 20 games under .500. They were next to worst in walks allowed and strikeouts-to-walk ratio. Jon Gray led the club with a 3.84 ERA. German Marquez had an ERA of a run higher than 2018 and had a curious increases of wild pitches to 14. Peter Gray hits great for a pitcher (.321 his rookie year) but his ERA was 7.25. Antonio Senzatela had 1.75 walks and hits per inning last year. I can’t recall ever seeing one that high. His strikeout-to-walks ratio of 1.33 is atrocious. Kyle Freeland won just three games while opponents hit .296 off of him. His numbers were shocking considering he was one of the best pitchers in the game the previous year (17-7 2.85 ERA). The Rockies hope he can return to the form pre-groin-strain and lead this club again. 

Defensively they were fourth in double plays and the shortstop/second base combination of Trevor Story and Garrett Hampson is fun to watch. Arenado is always worth the price of admission. 

Management hopes Freeland’s year last year was a fluke and that Manager Bud Black and pItching coach Steve Foster can do better. They have the offense and defense to be a 90-win club assuming the pitching is even average. Senzatela needs to see the minors for that to happen. Somebody out there has to be able to keep the opposition to three runs every start. Doesn’t there? The Spitter picked them for 84 wins last year and in our estimation they grossly under-performed. Let’s try it again: 84 wins. 

Coronavirus 60-game prediction: 30-30

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