This is your Colorado Rockies Mile High Sports Report for the week of June 5-12.
This Week
The Rox went 1-5 getting swept by San Francisco and only narrowly managing to steal the final game against San Diego at home.
They are now 27-40 on the season and remain in last place in the National League West.
Before their solo win of the week, the Rockie lost nine in a row and 15 of 16 against NL West teams after taking two games in San Diego to begin the season. They have been outscored 58-109 over the 16-game span. They’ve not had a winning record against the division since going 41-36 in the team’s 91-72 2018 campaign.
They’ve not been hitting or pitching well as a team but their defense has been fantastic.
Catcher Elias Díaz’s 1.3 defensive WAR (Baseball Reference) is tied for the second-highest mark among all players, the best among all catchers.
Ryan McMahon and Ezequiel Tovar each have 1.0 dWAR, tied for sixth among all Major League position players. The Rockies’ have only one error through their last nine games. The team’s 13 errors through 38 games since April 30 are tied for the second-fewest in baseball.
The ballclub made a series of transactions over the weekend, optioning Alan Trejo back to Triple-A, placing Charlie Blackmon on the 10-day IL with a right hand fracture, and moving Antonio Senzatela to the 60-day IL as he continues his long recovery from a forearm issue.
Catcher Brian Serven will return to the backup role though he may have some competition for that job in the future as Colorado quietly picked up Jorge Alfaro, a former top prospect for Philadelphia who was traded to Miami along with pitcher Sixto Sanchez in the J.T. Realmuto deal.
He has yet to live up to his potential but was a nearly-league average hitter with power in 2018 and 2019 and was hanging around that mark in 2022 with the Padres, posting an OPS+ of 93 with 7 home runs in 82 games.
The Rockies also called up infielder Coco Montes who has never carried a ton of prospect pedigree but has been scorching in Albuquerque this season. He’s hitting .321/.401/.560 with 12 home runs and 47 RBI in 59 games, good for a wRC+ of 126.
This team has seen its fair share of guys with similar resumes in recent times that never ended up translating to MLB but Montes has earned his shot.
He went 2-for-3 in his MLB debut including hitting a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning as part of a pretty epic comeback win.
Nolan Jones continued his torrid play, smacking another pair of hits and capping off that comeback with a monster home run that still hasn’t landed yet. He is hitting .360 with four home runs and 12 RBI over his first 50 at-bats with the Rockies.
On Sunday, Montes joined Jones, Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle, and Elehuris Montero to give the Rockies their youngest lineup of the season. Last year, Montero just barely passed the threshold to make him not technically a rookie but the other four still are and all five together represent a shift toward the next era of Rockies baseball.
This Week in Rockies History
Backing up a bit to June 1, 1992, John Burke, a pitcher from the University of Florida and a native of Englewood, Colo., was selected by the Rockies in the first round of the MLB June Draft, the club’s first-ever draft selection. The 6-4, 220-pound right-hander was the 27th player selected overall in the draft and he officially signed his contract with the Rockies on June 28.
From June 1-10, 2017, The Rockies won eight of nine behind Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Tyler Chatwood, and Jeff Hoffman. On June 10, their record was 41-23 and they held a 2.5 game lead on the National League West, the farthest out front they would ever get, settling ultimately for a Wild Card spot.
The 2009 Rox went 8-0 during the week of June 5-12 behind Ubaldo Jimenez, Jorge de la Rosa and Aaron Cook, the three best pitchers in franchise history, and the Jasons Hammel and Marquis. Interestingly enough, they were still under .500 with a record of 31-32 but would continue the momentum going 21-7 in June, the best month in franchise history.
On June 10, 1991, MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent announced Denver and South Florida would be the NL’s selections for expansion. So thanks for that.
On June 11, 2008, the Rockies beat the Giants 1-0 on a walk-off error by Giants catcher Bengie Molina, allowing Garrett Atkins to score. It was the first game in Coors Field history to be scoreless after eight innings.
And on June 12, the 2007 Rockies were 31-33. They went on to win the National League.
