The Colorado Rockies wrapped up a series sweep of the visiting New York Mets. The series showed a lot, including the fact that in the middle of May, the Rox are still in the hunt for first place in the NL West.
In years past, the Rockies would get off to a hot start in April and come down to earth in May; however, this year is proving to be different.
Instead of getting off to a blazing start in April, the Rox played right around .500 ball, going 11-12 in the opening month.
That trend has continued into May, as the Rockies are currently 8-6.The result has been, well, different than what Rockies fans have been use to. At this point last year, the Rox were 12-20.
The Rockies are currently 19-18 and are just a game and a half out of first place in the National League West.
The team has shown it all — the good, the bad and the ugly — but through it all, they’ve remained one thing: competitive.
“I just like where we are at,” said manager Walt Weiss. “I like what we’ve got in there, and how they compete everyday. Some things starting to go our way, taking advantage of opportunities, bullpen’s been good.”
The team has been forced to make adjustments, such as slotting two new arms into the rotation, being without Miguel Castro and Jason Motte, and having to deal with the uncertainty of players like Jose Reyes, Jordan Lyles and Jorge De La Rosa.
Nevertheless, the Rockies prevail.
“I like what we’re made of,” said Weiss. “I like the way we bounce back after a tough loss, or tough series.”
The players on the other hand have expected nothing less.
“We understand the situation,” said Carlos Gonzalez. “We have to dominate at home … We just got to continue to play good baseball.”
“I think the resiliency of this team is great,” said Ryan Raburn, who hit the go ahead homerun in Sunday’s win. “I feel like we got a great club,”
The refreshment, excitement and will to win are all attributes that have surrounded the club this season.
First place is there for the taking, and the Rockies are in the position to do it.
