RIGHT ROAD TO SUCCESS
The Rockies used to struggle on the road. No more. Now they’re road warriors, armed with a 25-13 record away from home.
Early in spring training, firstyear Rockies manager Bud Black delivered a simple, two-note message to his players. First, he believed in their talent. Second, he did not believe in excuses.
There would be no whining about the travails of pitching at Coors Field, and Black didn’t want to listen to a song and dance about how difficult it has been for the Rockies to win on the road.
“What we talked about during spring was not distinguishing between home and road,” Black said last week in the visiting team’s dugout at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. “I said, ‘How about we just talk about playing well all the time? Doesn’t that make sense?’
“And the guys got it. They thought, ‘Yeah, why can’t we? Let just play good baseball, wherever we go.’ ”
Black paused for a moment as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed over downtown Pittsburgh, then added: “Like today, when it’s hot, muggy and humid. It’s starting to rain. But let’s go out and play a good game.
“Earlier in the year, when it was really cold back in Denver — I looked up at the scoreboard one night and it was 36 degrees — and I thought, ‘Well, let’s win that game too.’ So that’s the mind-set of these guys. They don’t care where we play. I like that.”
With their road schedule nearly halfway complete, the Rockies are 25-13 and they own the best road mark in the National League. Until losing two of three games at Pittsburgh, Colorado had played 11 consecutive road series without losing one, the longest such streak in team history.
For an organization with only one winning road record in its past (41-40 in 2009), it has been a momentous turn of events. For a team that won 21 road games — total — just three years ago, it’s a revelation.
The Rockies turned their fortunes around through solid pitching and a more disciplined approach at the plate. Their current 3.39 road ERA was second-lowest in the majors entering Friday, trailing only Arizona’s 3.28. The Rockies are batting .258 on the road, fifth in the National League and the second-highest in franchise history, topped only by the 2007 World Series team that hit .261.
Newcomer Ian Desmond, who competed in the playoffs with both Washington and Texas, sees special qualities in his new team.
“In order to win on the road, you have to have some grit,” Desmond said. “You have to have a closer that can hold down that lead. We have that in Greg (Holland).
“And I think we have shown the ability to persevere. We are not going to lay down. Sometimes that means taking care of business the next day.”
Holland, of course, is central to Colorado’s success. He has a 1.40 ERA and had converted a teamrecord 23 consecutive saves until blowing his first one Thursday night in Colorado’s wild 10-9 victory over San Francisco at Coors Field. On the road, Holland has been close to invincible, posting a 1.15 ERA with a .135 batting average against while converting all 16 save opportunities.
It’s probably a good thing that Desmond, Black and Holland don’t have an intimate knowledge of the Rockies’ dreary past. More often than not, the long and grinding road led to a dead end.
Long trips to the East Coast often meant losing streaks that sucked the life out of the team. In late July 2013, for example, the Rockies were 51-55, on the edge of respect, until they went 1-9 through Atlanta, Pittsburgh and New York.
Away from the offensive paradise of Coors Field, batting averages have traditionally plummeted, slumps have deepened and confidence has cratered. In that infamous 2014 season, for example, Colorado tied a franchise low with a .228 road batting average and scored a franchise-worst 255 runs.
But, as Black noted in Scottsdale, Ariz., back in February, this is a new era. It all begins with pitching.
Away from home, the Rockies have limited opponents to a .228 batting average, easily the best in the majors. (Minnesota ranked second at .237.) According to Stats Inc., only 28 teams in baseball history have limited opponents to a .230 batting average or lower on the road. And only two teams since 2000 have done it — the 2016 World Series champion Cubs and the 2015 Indians.
Bullpen coach Darren Holmes, who pitched for the Rockies from 1993-97, believes that quality performances by starters and relievers take a lot of heat off the offense.
“We have some great hitters, but it’s tough when you go out on the road and score three runs and two innings later we give up five,” Holmes said. “That’s happened a lot in the past. So then what happens? Guys get a little bigger with their swings and try to create some home runs. Get it all back at once. Baseball doesn’t work that way.
“Now, I think, guys are more relaxed. Now it’s like, (our pitchers) are going to hold the lead more often than not. The whole team feels that.”
Third baseman Nolan Arenado agreed.
“Well, bottom line is that at the end of the day, we are just better,” he said. “We are a good team, but our pitchers are keeping us in the games, so maybe we can stay a little more focused.”
Arenado’s home-road splits are balanced. He entered Friday hitting .293 with an .899 OPS, five homers and 24 RBIs at Coors Field. On the road he’s batting .287, with an .898 OPS, nine homers and 26 RBIs. He says those numbers illustrate his growth as a hitter, adding that he has seen the same from center fielder Charlie Blackmon and second baseman DJ LeMahieu, the defending National League batting champion.
“I think a lot of it is a matter of being more mature as hitters and being more experienced,” Arenado said. “It’s about doing your homework and knowing who each pitcher is going into a series. We aren’t as much free swingers as we were in the past. We’re trying to put more into it, slow the game down.”
The Rockies are going to need more of that as the pennant race heats up. The Rockies have only nine home games in June, and after the current seven-game homestand ends, they go back on the road for division series against the Dodgers, Giants and Diamondbacks.
“I like where we are,” LeMahieu said. “Our pitching on the road has been solid, for the most part. Offensively, we aren’t making excuses. We just go out there and compete, wherever we are.”