Forget about taking a curveball pitching machine on the road. Don’t try to pin all the blame on hitting coach Blake Doyle.
If the Rockies want to improve their terrible offensive production on the road, they must change their approach at the plate. Players have to become less selfish and more team-oriented.
Who says so? First baseman Justin Morneau, the reigning National League batting champion.
“You have to get outside yourself and you have to become more concerned about what the team is doing and less worried about yourself,” Morneau said. “I think we can have success if we do that.”
Rockies Mailbag:
Road prosperity has always been elusive for the Rockies, but it was a pipe dream last year. The Rockies won only 21 games away from home, and their home-road splits were astounding. They scored 500 runs, hit .322 and had a .372 on-base percentage at Coors Field. On the road, they scored a franchise-worst 255 runs, hit .228 and posted an on-base percentage of .270.
Clearly, their approach was flawed, but Morneau’s was not.
His batting average at Coors Field was .327, vs. .309 on the road. His OPS was .878 at home and .839 on the road. True, Morneau hit 11 homers at Coors Field vs. only six on the road, and yes, he drove in 52 runs at home and just 30 away, but Morneau’s philosophy is solid.
To borrow a favorite expression from former Rockies manager Jim Tracy, it would behoove the younger hitters to watch and learn from the 33-year-old Morneau.
“How we get there is to sacrifice,” Morneau said, and he wasn’t talking about laying down a bunt. “It’s about scoring early and having guys willing to give themselves up. Getting a 1-0 lead on the road is big. … You trade a run for an out almost any day of the week on the road. I think that’s the mentality a team has to have.
“When the guy is more worried about getting a hit than driving that guy in, that’s when you run into problems.”
To be clear, Morneau was not calling out his teammates for being selfish. He understands that a team concept at the big-league level comes with maturity. But last season, in part because of injuries, the Rockies often were fielding an immature team.
Young players, quite understandably, are self-centered. They believe that if they don’t put up impressive stats and catch the eye of management, their time in the majors will be short.
“I think you get to the minor leagues and your goal is, ‘I want to get to the big leagues,’ ” Morneau said. “So you have to have personal success, and players think they have to be selfish. Obviously you want to win as you get there, but if you don’t have personal success, you aren’t going to get there.
“And then, to all of a sudden get to the big leagues and suddenly (have to) become this other hitter, it’s hard.
“So I think you have to learn to sacrifice yourself when you are in the minors.”
It’s not an easy concept for young players to grasp, but Morneau said it’s worth it in the long run.
“(Manager) Walt Weiss and I talked about this last year,” Morneau said. “He said, ‘When you play this game the right way, this game will reward you.’ He’s absolutely right.”
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@ or psaundersdp
Rockies new GM Jeff Bridich joined Woody Paige and Les Shapiro, on .
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