Rockies series preview: Two of the worst offenses in baseball
How can you not score runs at Coors Field?
The Rockies organization has been a total mess this year with one of the worst offenses in baseball, amazing considering they play their home games in the best hitting park in baseball. The Rockies have scored three or fewer runs in 15 of their 21 games and went 32 innings in a row without scoring a run. They are a woeful team on the road, collectively hitting just .188/.240/.286 with fewer than two runs per game.
Colorado Rockies (4-17) vs. Kansas City Royals (9-14) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Rockies: 3.24 runs scored/game (28th in MLB), 5.67 runs allowed/game (30th)
Royals: 2.91 runs scored/game (30th), 3.96 runs allowed/game (10th)
Predictably, that has led to a lot of losses! They have yet to win a series this year, and have lost 11 of their 12 road games. A win on Sunday against the Nationals ended a season-high eight-game losing streak.
Brenton Doyle is by far the best Rockies hitter and fielder, but he has been gone on bereavement leave, and was also nursing a quad injury that could keep him out of action. The Rockies are also without big free agent signing Kris Bryant, who is perpetually injured, and are also missing infielders Thairo Estrada, Ezequiel Tovar, and Tyler Freeman. That leaves a pretty hodgepodge lineup of cast-offs and organization guys, most of whom have not hit this year.
Mickey Moniak has been a rare bright spot for the offense after being released by the Angels near the end of spring training. However, he has a 31 percent career strikeout rate to just a 4.8 percent walk rate. Kyle Farmer was signed as a free agent from the Twins and got off to a hot start, but is just 2-for-his-last-15. Michael Toglia is hitting just .100/.122/.200 on the road this year.
The Rockies called up top prospect Zac Veen, the ninth overall pick of the 2021 draft, after he hit .387/.472/.677 in eight games in the minors. But he has struggled, striking out in 37 percent of his MLB plate appearances. The Rockies as a team are striking out 30 percent of the time, by far the highest rate in baseball.
Rockies starters have a 5.76 ERA, second-highest in baseball. Ryan Feltner had three solid starts to begin the year until he walked six and gave up five runs in less than three innings in his last outing against the Dodgers. Last year was his first season making 30 starts, and he finished with a 4.49 ERA and 1.1 rWAR, despite one of the lowest strikeout rates among starters. The 28-year-old right-hander allowed opponents to hit .355 against his slider this year and .455 this year. He also relies on a 95 mph four-seamer, a change up, and sinker that induces a 45 percent groundball rate.
Germán Márquez has battled injuries the last few years, and Wednesday will mark the first time since 2022 he has made more than four starts in a season. The 30-year-old tossed six shutout innings in his season debut, but couldn’t get out of the first inning, giving up seven runs to the Dodgers in his last start. His 95 mph fastball velocity seems to hold up well, but his sinker gets pounded.
Chase Dollander was the ninth pick in the 2023 draft out of Tennessee. He has really struggled with the thin air of Coors Field, giving up four home runs and nine runs against the Nationals in his last start, and overall he is tied for the MLB lead in home runs allowed despite just three starts. Dollander has some heat with a 97 mph fastball, but opponents are hitting .333 against it. His cutter and curve have been more effective, and he mixes in a change up as well.
The Rockies bullpen has a decent 4.16 ERA, but their 5.20 FIP is worst in baseball and they have the highest walk rate. Tyler Kinley is the closer by default, picking up his first save of the year on Sunday after blowing a save on Opening Day. Jake Bird has struck out 17 of the 51 batters he has faced (33 percent). Former Royals lefty Scott Alexander allowed lefties to hit just .161/.209/.210 against him last year, but has been hit hard this year. Seth Halvorsen has a 74 percent groundball rate so far.
The Royals have lost the last two season series against Colorado, and haven’t won a home series against them since 2017. If they are going to get the offense going, this Rockies pitching staff seems like a good way to get right. After a daunting schedule to begin the year, the Royals now begin a stretch of 22 of 25 games against teams currently in fourth place or lower. If they can’t beat the Rockies this week, it is officially time to hit the panic button.