WASHINGTON — The Rockies certainly are an optimistic bunch.
Despite what the numbers say and what history tells us, they continue to cling to the wild dream of making the playoffs.
“I have seen crazy things happen in this game when you put together a streak of 30 games of winning baseball,” manager Bud Black said Wednesday night after the Rockies were swept in a doubleheader by the Nationals and lost for the 16th time in 19 games.
Colorado entered Thursday’s series finale with a 47-55 record, last place in the National League West, and eight games out of the final NL wild-card spot — with seven teams in front of them. Nonetheless, catcher insists that a run to the playoffs is not a mirage.
“I think itap realistic, I really do,” he said. “I think we just have to get on a hot streak. We need to stay positive. Baseball is a contagious sport. If our pitchers start pitching well, they build off each other. The same thing with hitting.”
Left-hander , who made his best start of the season Tuesday night despite Colorado’s 2-0 loss, said: “We’ve still got a lot of baseball left. I know the caliber of this team and what we can accomplish. Right now we are grinding through some tough losses. Either the pitching is doing well and the hitting is not, or the other way around. We just need to get firing on all cylinders.”
But the Rockies are almost certainly deluding themselves. Fangraphs, for instance, rates Colorado’s playoff chances at 1.3 percent.
And a glance at the past illustrates how miraculous a run it would take for the Rockies to qualify for the postseason. They have never had a sub-.500 record this late in the season and made the playoffs.
In the 2007 season that ended with the famed Rocktober run to the World Series, Colorado was 51-51 after 102 games and needed to win 13 of 14 games down the stretch to force Game 163 with the Padres and ultimately win a wild-card berth. Last season, the Rockies were 55-47 at this point of the season and still needed to win nine of 10 games to close out the season, finish with a 91-71 record and tie the Dodgers in the NL West. (Los Angeles won Game 163 to win the division).
While Black and his players are holding on to what looks like an impossible dream, general manager has taken a more realistic approach as Wednesday’s trade deadline nears.
“The way that we’ve looked at the deadline in the past, especially in the recent past, is that if we are truly competing, if we’re showing signs as a team of being a legitimate competitor for being a postseason team, we’re going to do what we can to add to that and strengthen the team,” Bridich said recently. “Right now, it feels different. Thatap disappointing.”
Nolan’s woes. Slumping all-star third baseman was out of the starting lineup Thursday, getting some much-needed rest.
“We were looking at certain dates (for a day off) and this was one of them, but it naturally coincides with the fact he has been grinding lately. It makes sense.” Black said.
Arenado batted 2-for-11 in the first three games of the Washington series and has hit .219 with just two homers and a .630 OPS in July.
On Deck
Rockies RHP German Marquez (9-5, 4.99 ERA) vs. Reds RHP Luis Castillo (9-3, 2.36)
4:40 p.m., Great American Ballpark
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Marquez is fresh off one of his best outings of the season, tossing seven innings of three-hit, two-run baseball in the Rockies’ 8-4 win over the Yankees. He became the 12th National League pitcher — the first since San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner in 2016 — to throw seven or more innings and allow two runs or fewer at the current Yankee Stadium. The right-hander leads the NL in both innings pitched (137.0) and road innings (74 ⅔). Castillo is one of the best young pitchers in baseball. He’s pitching against Colorado for the first time in 2019. He’s been brilliant at home, posting a 1.67 ERA in 11 starts at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park.
Trending: First baseman Daniel Murphy has caught fire. He went 3-for-5 Thursday and is batting .337 (30-for-89) in his past 26 games since June 23
At issue: Reliever Bryan Shaw continues to run hot and cold. He gave up three runs, on two hits and two walks in just two-thirds of an inning Thursday, nearly costing Colorado a win at Washington. Shaw’s ERA is 5.13.
Pitching probables
Saturday: Rockies TBA at Reds RHP Anthony DeSclafani (5-5, 4.12), 5:10 p.m., ATTRM
Sunday: Rockies RHP Peter Lambert (2-2, 5.93) at Reds LHP Alex Wood (2019 debut), 11:10 a.m., ATTRM
Monday: Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda (7-7, 3.81) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (9-7, 4.05), 6:40 p.m.
