3 Things To Watch Battling The Rockies: Get The Veterans Back On Track, Beat A Bad Team

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that the last time the Rockies played a game of any real relevance was October 7th, 2018. That game ended with Ian Desmond flying out to Lorenzo Cain, unceremoniously ending the Rockies playoff run with a 6-0 shutout. The Brewers would ultimately lose the following series to the Dodgers but would continue to chase playoff ball in each of the following seasons, with reasonable expectations that they’ll be there again come season end this year. 

The Rockies? Not so much.

It’s been a parade of befuddlement in the Mile High City. The Rockies front office has executed a number of genuinely head-scratching moves. Most notably, they handed a massive contract to declining former MVP Kris Bryant. Three years into a seven-year contract, he has collected a -0.3 WAR. What’s more was their unloading of the one-time face of the franchise and future Hall Of Famer Nolan Arenado, who was acquired by the Cardinals, who were essentially paid for the pleasure of said acquisition.

Predictably, this hasn’t yielded much in the way of desirable results for the Rox. There hasn’t been any discernible coherence in whatever direction they have taken since the last time they saw October baseball. That lack of a vision perhaps culminated in the last two seasons, consecutive abject campaigns with over 100 losses in each. Through the fog of misery, though, shines the potential of some sort of guiding light. The front office has decided to call up their top prospect, RHP Chase Dollander, and their eighth-ranked prospect, OF Zac Veen. It’s a bold move that further drains the talent pool of what is already considered a middling-at-best farm system, with Baseball America ranking the organization 13th and Keith Law going as low as 23rd. Still, it’s evident that in a division headed up by the behemoth Dodgers, such boldness is necessary if they want to even tread water. 

Meanwhile, Brewers fans aren’t so aggressively rubbing the paint off the panic button in Milwaukee. Despite the numerous injuries the Brewers rotation is currently dealing with (an issue made significantly worse thanks to a Nestor Cortes elbow sprain), the Crew performed with aplomb against a division rival in the Reds right when they needed it most. Winning three games out of four saw Milwaukee claw their way to a .500 record, and while they walk into this next series limping and licking their wounds, they are doing so with a lot of bite. Brice Turang is currently making a case for “most underrated player in the game” after quietly winning a Platinum Glove thanks to his stellar defense last season. If early signs indicate anything, he’s also learning to mash the ball, work the count, and hit for average. The combined effort is a 0.4 WAR and a 136 OPS+, which looks pretty sweet on the back of any baseball card, let alone that of a middle infielder with amazing defense. 

Jackson Chourio’s curious swing-and-miss continues to be a mild issue but one that figures to work itself out as he sees more pitchers and other members of the youth movement like Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick continue to contribute meaningfully. Christian Yelich and William Contreras haven’t found their swing just yet, but their silence at the plate feels more like a lull than a warning sign—something bound to jostle loose as soon as the weather gets warm and the season hits its stride. The quiet alchemy that has yielded so much surprising success for the Crew still seems to be burbling away. The blueprint has more or less stayed the same for more than half a decade, and if it hasn’t proven itself broken yet, why mess with a good thing?

Three Keys To Take Down The Rockies

1. Attack fast: Kyle Freeland was once considered an ace in the making, and early showings this season suggest the window for that may not be fully closed. In 12.2 innings pitched in the two games he’s started, Freeland has an impressive 2.13 ERA while striking out 10. At 9.2 IP, veteran righty Antonio Senzatela hasn’t pitched as deep into games, but he has yet to surrender a single run - this despite an unsightly 2.172 WHIP. The Brewers should pick the starters apart as deftly as possible and then sink their teeth into a relief corps with a combined 6.98 ERA to this point in the season. 

2. Veteran bats coming to life: There are seven combined hits between Contreras and Yelich. As I stated before, it’s only a matter of time before that drought ends. It takes a spark to start a fire, so what better time to ignite that fire than at a high-elevation game against a team with a less-than-stellar bullpen? 

3. Remember, the Rockies are bad: This isn’t to say to play with an air of decompression and nonchalance, but it might be a valuable point of consideration that Colorado is not an especially threatening team. When a roster is as defined by attrition as the Brewers is (Quinn Priester, anyone?), it might be worth trusting a starter to face a couple of extra batters rather than burn the pen. The Brewers face the Diamondbacks after this series, and it might be prudent to have as many hands on deck as possible for what is undeniably a more formidable foe.

Predictions: The Rockies are, without a doubt, the lesser team. That said, predicting a sweep feels like folly under the best of circumstances, and these aren't the best of circumstances. The Brewers' rotation is dangerously thin, and it honestly feels like luck is at least partially responsible for their .500 record to this point. Still, the idea of the Rockies winning this series feels even more far-fetched than a Brewers sweep, so let's split the difference between those two outcomes and say the Crew takes two of three on enemy territory.