This series concludes with a look at the Colorado Rockies. I’ll get to either the Tigers or the Twins in my ALDS preview.
Strengths
Who would have thought that the Rockies starting pitchers would be a major strength for the team. They finished the season with 92 quality starts, second only to the Braves. The didn’t have the strongest overall staff. The Giants, the Dodgers, the Cardinals to name a few on average made better starts, as you can see by the better game scores. Colorado starters, however, kept their team in the game very well. They’re not going to blow anyone away, but they’re not going to get blown out either. The Rockies starters are very good at going six innings and giving up three runs, and with the second best offense in the NL, that enough to win. At 69-50, only the Angels starters had more wins in the majors, and only the Phillies came in with a better winning percentage in the NL (66-46).
With Betancourt and Street at the end of the game, the Rockies are solid most of the way through. Offensively, the Rockies scored so high not due to their hitting, but due to their selectivity. Colorado drew the most walks in the National League by a wide margin. They had five full time players produce OBPs of .360 or better. To go along with that selectivity is the second most home runs in the league; men on with power produces runs. This is not a team to be judged by their batting average.
Weaknesses
According to UZR, the Rockies have a poor outfield defense. That’s a bit surprising to me as with the big outfield, I’d expect them to have a good outfield as part of their good pitching staff. The team does have a very high GB/FB ratio, so they someone cover that weakness with the types of batted balls they induce. The pitchers give up a high percentage of line drives.
For a team with lots of great individual OBPs, they stick a low one in the second slot in the batting order. I know batting orders don’t matter that much, but I don’t like seeing an easy out at the top of the order.
The Rockies are just a .500 team on the road. Their ERA goes down 0.4 runs, but their runs scored per game drops about 0.75. By not winning the division, they will be scheduled for more games on the road in each series they play.
Conclusion
The Rockies are a team in that there is not one outstanding attribute that makes them good, but their combination of attributes makes them very good. Ubaldo Jimenez is the closest thing they have to an ace, but I don’t expect him to toss shutouts, just hold the opposition to a two or three runs and let the offense work. This isn’t the offense of Coors past. It’s good compared to the NL, but this is just the sixth time the team scored under 5.00 runs a game. Their offense is good enough for their pitching and their pitching is good enough for their offense.