After a fun little start to the season, the Rockies crash back to Earth
Apr 5, 2023, 12:52 PM
The 2023 Rockies will always have their undefeated March.
After a fast and fun start to the season, getting out of the gates with a 2-0 record, Colorado has crashed back to Earth.
The Rockies have lost four games in a row, heading to Coors Field for Opening Day with a 2-4 mark, good for the basement in the NL West.
Colorado hasn’t just gotten beat their last four times on the diamond, they’ve gotten beat handily. The Rox lost all four contests by at least two runs, including an 8-4 rout by the Padres and 13-4 beatdown by the Dodgers. The bullpen’s been bad, the bats have gone quiet and any signs of optimism are gone.
After his torrid start to the year, first baseman C.J. Cron is 0-12 at the plate in his last three games. A small sample size, sure, but it’s slumps like that the team can’t afford when the bats will need to produce. Ryan McMahon is hitting just .182, Elias Diaz checks in at .167, as does promising rookie Ezequiel Tovar.
German Marquez, Colorado’s ace, gave up three home runs to the Dodgers on Tuesday night and couldn’t stop the losing skid. The Rockies have three pitchers with ERAs over 12. Again, stats are skewed this early, but it wasn’t exactly a banner four games.
Will the team get above .500 the rest of the season? It’s a legitimate question, with their best chance coming over the next four ballgames against a bad Washington Nationals team. After that the contending St. Louis Cardinals come to town followed by a road trip to Seattle.
But the quality of the baseball doesn’t matter. We know that by now. Downtown Denver will be packed on Thursday for Opening Day festivities, as the biggest party in Colorado returns to 20th and Blake. The Rockies could lose 100 games for the first time ever and the stands will be nearly full every night.
2-4 is about what we expected with a six-game swing out West to start things off. However, it’s the order that the Rockies got there that is frustrating. That undefeated March might be the highlight of the season.
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