SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Playoffs? The Rockies are talking playoffs. But what the heck do the Rockies actually know about making the playoffs?
The answer: Nothing.
Talent abounds on the Colorado roster. But scan the roster, from outfielder to relief pitcher Greg Holland, and playoff experience is barely a footnote.
Among significant everyday players, the Rockies have 30 career hits in the postseason. Total. Ian Desmond, and Gonzalez know a little of the pressure of walking to the batter’s box in October. But only a little.
And pitching? While relievers Holland, and Mike Dunn have survived the heavy-leverage situations of dealing with late-inning traffic in the playoffs, there’s not a starting pitcher for Colorado that has ever taken the mound in the postseason.
There’s a tattered, old book on the Rockies. They’re trapped inside this sad story. For going on a decade, the tale of every baseball season in Colorado can be told in three short chapters: 1) The false hope instilled by a fast start; 2) The June swoon, and 3) When does Broncos camp begin?
“You want to be a special team. You want to be building toward something. It seems to me the best teams in baseball every year get hot toward the end of summer,” said third baseman , who recently gained valuable experience during the intensely competitive World Baseball Classic as a member of Team USA.
“Itap a 162-game season. Thatap six months of baseball. Just because we might not start the first couple months well, it doesn’t have to mean it won’t turn out well. In years past, I know we’ve usually started well and then have fallen off.”
Yes, the story gets old. I’m tired of telling it. We go to for the sunshine, not the pennant race.
This year feels different. There’s a fresh vibe in the clubhouse. It seems genuine, more than the yada, yada, yada optimism of spring training. Colorado has embraced the pressure of expectations. Major-league scouts that check out their games like what they see, from a potent batting order to a rebuilt bullpen.
Call me crazy, but I buy the idea that the Rockies can win more games than they lose in 2017. While that would be a welcome improvement, it feels like a stretch to predict this team will play meaningful games in October. Although Jon Gray’s filthy slider gives him real promise as a bona fide ace, it feels as if this Colorado starting rotation is probably a year away from doing consistent damage against National League lineups.
These Rockies have much to learn. Mentoring them on how to endure the inevitable rough patches without letting it derail the pursuit of a playoff berth might be the most important way new manager Bud Black can help this team.
The beauty of baseball is how the game’s pace allows every bleacher bum the time to second-guess a sixth-inning move by the manager, whether the choice is to yank his pitcher or save a pinch-hitter for later.
But every strategic move can have real human consequences. After 398 appearances in the big leagues as a pitcher and more than eight years in the dugout as the manager, Black understands those consequences.
“Every game is important. You understand that. We all do. But there are times when you really have to exhibit patience, with your players and with your team,” Black said.
“I suspect on the pitching side, we’re going to have to exhibit some patience, especially with our starters.”
So maybe his juiciest challenge with the Rockies will be how to balance winning today’s game with trusting and testing young players in situations that might make the team better next week, next month or next year, when the final score might be even more important to Colorado’s quest for the World Series.
“There are times during a course of game there’s a teaching moment that I know is critical for a player’s future, and it might result in a loss, or might result in a situation where it affects the outcome of a game. But I do know from experience that because of that moment, we’ll be better off for it, and we might get more wins down the road,” said Black, willing to take the blame for a defeat and the inevitable second-guessing that results from allowing a young player to take his lumps in a tough situation.
“Sometimes you’ve got to wear it, man. You’ve got to wear those decisions, because ultimately you know itap better for the player. And itap tough. But we do it, because we know itap best for the player and the team long-term.”
