The Rockies are quietly falling apart after a hot start to the season
May 16, 2022, 12:55 PM
Is tonight the night the Rockies fall under .500 for good?
Colorado has overachieved to this point, but after a 15-10 start to 2022, the last nine games have been ugly. The Rockies are in a 2-7 slump, including 1-5 away from Coors Field to fall to 17-17 overall. Hitting on the road has been a problem that’s plagued this team time and time again, and this year is proving to be more of the same.
During the six-game road swing to Arizona and San Francisco last week the Rockies were outscored 33-13, including being shutout once and scoring just one run in two other games. Randal Grichuk, who was red hot to start the year, is in the midst of a 1-20 slump that started against the Diamondbacks and continued against the Giants. Even a guy who’s brand new isn’t immune to a road swoon.
And you would’ve thought coming home could cure Colorado’s slump, but they somehow lost two of three to the lowly Royals over the weekend. The team was thrashed 14-10 on Friday night with Kyle Freeland on the mound, then had a nice rally spoiled yesterday by 36-year-old Daniel Bard losing a ninth inning lead in an 8-7 loss. Freeland, who signed a lucrative deal last month, is now just 1-4 on the season with a 4.91 ERA. Bard has blown two saves on the year and saw his ERA climb to 3.65.
German Marquez hasn’t looked like himself, Kris Bryant’s back is still hurt and Charlie Blackmon is hitting just .217. The Rockies hot start looks like it was a mirage, with the real team showing up the last 10 days. Sitting at last place in the gauntlet that is the NL West, it’s fair to wonder if Colorado will dig its way out of the basement the rest of the season.
Which brings us back to our question posed at the top of this story: Will the Rockies dip below .500 tonight for good? The oddsmakers have Alex Wood and the Giants as -148 favorites against Antonio Senzatela and Colorado. And remember, the Giants just swept the Rockies last week, although this series is at least at Coors Field.
There’s still plenty of time for the Rockies to get this season back on track. There’s also plenty of time for it to go down the tubes — and right now the latter looks like the more likely scenario.
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