Last night my ever-optimistic nature took a major hit. After the Rockies dropped their tenth straight my frustration boiled over and I momentarily became very pessimistic about the state of the ball club. My wife was immediately concerned about me, assuming I must have had a terrible day or something bigger was wrong with me because I never say anything like that. My day had been fine, and I'm totally okay, but she’s right: I never say that about any team that has won my fanhood. And I’ve cheered for A LOT of losing teams.
So to make up for my moment of negativity, let’s take a look at some of the positive things that we’ve seen during this ten game losing streak. In the words of Troy Tulowitzki, “there are not many,” but we’re going to see what we can find.
Nick Hundley
Nick Hundley is the biggest bright spot in the Colorado lineup right now. Since the start of this losing streak, Hundley is batting .400, improving his season average to .342. Hundley has consistently reached base this year and is stepping up when his team needs him most. Billy Beane would love this guy. He gets on base.
More importantly to me (because if he’s the only one getting on base that won’t produce a lot of runs) is that there is someone on this team that’s hitting the ball. Hundley is a veteran presence on this ball club - that’s why the Rockies signed him - and his consistency will help in righting the ship.
Drew Stubbs, Sort Of
Drew Stubbs was off to one of the worst starts imaginable, going 0-21 with 13 K. If he had any minor league options remaining on his contract he almost certainly would be in an Isotopes uniform right now. But with Stubbs, Bridich had to take a different approach and things have started to turn around. In his past 14 plate appearances he’s gone 3-11 with 2 homeruns. It had to be nice for him to break out of a monster slump with a monster shot into the bleachers. The strikeout problem still continues as he’s gone down on strikes in 7 of his past 14 trips to the plate (meaning he has struck out in 20 of his 32 at-bats this year.
Stubbs isn’t back to where the Rockies need him to be, or certainly where he wants to be himself, but if we’re looking for silver linings where there aren’t many to be found, Drew Stubbs has three hits and two homers during this skid.
Kyle Kendrick’s Latest Start
I’m not an expert when it comes to analyzing pitchers, and I’m not particularly great with pitch recognition, but I can tell you that Kyle Kendrick looked significantly better in his start against the Angels last night. It was beyond holding the Angels to just two earned runs, and it was beyond the fact that he was able to go 7.0 strong innings. He looked sharp. Was it the extra rest that came from multiple rainouts? Did he make some adjustments? Here’s what Ryan Spilborghs had to say:
Rest had nothing to do with it. From what I saw he eliminated his cutter. He was sinker change up all night. https://t.co/5517T32Vfg
— Ryan Spilborghs (@spillygoat19) May 13, 2015
There you have it. It looks like Kendrick simplified his approach, removed a pitch that wasn’t working for him, and had a quality outing. Unfortunately he still only ended up with a no decision, but it was a promising day from Kendrick.New Britain Rock Cats
So while there are only a handful of positive things happening with the big league club, let’s take a second and recognize the Rockies’ AA affiliate. The New Britain Rock Cats are currently 25-7, leading their division by 6.5 games, and riding a 12 game WINNING streak. Keep it rollin’ boys, and go Rock Cats!
And of course, GO ROCKIES!
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