From reading the paper this weekend you'd think the Rockies won the World Series last year instead of losing 98 games. It's one thing for the fans to think a 13-4 start is going to continue over the entire season, and that a 6-11 skid (now 7-13) is horrible (Gasp!), or (OMG!) the hitting has failed to hit in 3 straight games! Whoa is me! And today's gem from one of the beat writers
"'That's baseball.' I've heard the quote used ad nauseam in the Rockies' clubhouse over last few days as their slide begins to get serious."
It's enough to make me regret renewing my subscription this week. It's time for the so-called sportswriters there to get serious and get a grip on reality.
1) The Rockies 13-4 start extrapolated to a 123 win season. No team has ever continued on that pace for a season.
2) The Rockies Current record of 20-17 after today's game translates to an 88 win season. If the Rockies win 88 games for this season, it would be a 24 win turnaround from last season, and would probably exceeds these guys expectations at the beginning of the season. Going into Friday's game, the pace was at 90 wins, which would win the division most years.
3) A perfect example of "That's Baseball" is when a team throws two near perfect games against a team and then gets nearly no-hit the 3rd day.
Don't get too emotionally tied to individual wins and losses. The Rockies have a history of going on extended winning runs as well as extended losing streaks. Oh, wait...That's pretty much every team.
More Reality...The Rockies are beating the bad teams and struggling against the good teams. They are currently 6-13 against teams over .500 and 14-4 against teams with losing records. For comparison the Giants are 11-5 against winning teams and 12-10 against losing teams.
More reality...35 of the Rockies first 37 starts have been by 5 pitchers who started the season. Last year they got only 71 starts the entire season from their starting 5. Halfway there.
Even more reality...Despite the recent hitting slump, the Rockies are still 2nd in the league in Runs per Game, and Home Runs; 1st in Batting Average, 3rd in On Base Percentage; and only 9th in Strikeouts.
Why the rising expectations? This team has a chance to get back to respectability. Take emotion out of it. This team is doing well, and still exceeding most expectations. If in August the Rockies still have a winning record, that's the point we should consider upping the expectations to contending and maybe making the playoffs.
One step at a time. Keep it Real.
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