There’s no denying how ugly the Rockies’ final homestand was in the absence of Carlos Gonzalez, Todd Helton and, for the most part, Troy Tulowitzki.
But, the last time Chris Iannetta checked, Coors Field still rested a mile, give or take, above the other ballparks in the major leagues.
“You’re going to score runs here,” Iannetta said. “We just need to hit the reset button in the offseason and get away from the game. Take a step back for about a month and start preparing for next season.
“A lot of it is going to take care of itself with time. I firmly believe that. This is more of an anomaly than a trend.”
Yeah, but.
The Rockies scored 19 runs in the seven-game homestand ending the season. But even if you assume they would have scored considerably more with their A-lister lineup intact, they would have finished right about where the 2005 Rockies — a.k.a. Todd & the Toddlers — did.
Those Rockies scored 451 runs at home. These Rockies scored 439, the second-fewest in the 17-year history of the ballpark. Only the 2008 Rox, at 411, scored fewer.
The Rockies hit .298 at home in 2010, 24 points higher than they did this season. They were 3-34 at home when trailing after the seventh inning and 1-36 when trailing after eight.
Clearly, if the Rockies are going to rebound in 2012, it will have to start with recapturing their LoDo mojo.
“Without a doubt,” Tulowitzki said. “Out of all the years I’ve been here, this is the fewest comebacks we’ve had late. You see certain players who bring a swagger and a belief in their abilities. We need to get that back. We’ve hit a tough stretch where we’re down.”
Tracy reacts.
If was as if Jim Tracy the mild-mannered manager jumped out of a phone booth before the game. Tracy, when asked about the Rockies’ issues at home, went on a rant about his dissatisfaction with the players’ approach at the plate.
Tracy said he wasn’t going to “sit here and suggest to you that there aren’t a lot of parts that make a lot of sense. But the message is this: Get over yourself if you want to win . . . and we will win.
“Every single player in that room needs to understand that. Because if we gain a heck of a lot greater understanding of it than we have right now, we’ll turn things around just like that. If we don’t, then we’ll continue to stagger for a while.”
Footnotes.
Tulo started and played five innings, but Gonzalez and Helton aren’t close to returning. CarGo hasn’t swung a bat since reinjuring his right wrist Sept. 15, and Helton’s back issues required an MRI that showed no structural damage. . . . Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd says he’s “open minded” about the identity of his 2012 closer. No wonder. Rafael Betancourt’s 0.36 ERA since the all-star break is the lowest among big-league relievers with 25-plus appearances, as is his — no typo, just fact — 36-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. . . . The Rockies’ entire bullpen, for that matter, has been very good of late. The bullpen ERA in July, August and the first three weeks of September: 5.04, 3.47 and 2.40.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong @denverpost.com
