The Race is on
August 1st, 2018
W - 61 / L - 44 / Tied for 1st
The Rockies had a rough month of July as they went 14-15 in the month including a 6 game losing streak at one point early in the month. Even taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers they ended the month tied for first with Los Angeles. One of the biggest reason may have been rookie LF Glenn Mackie trailing off a little bit and slowing down on his HR hitting. Also with 1 week left in the month the Rockies lost 2B Marco Hernandez to a strained oblique and he is expected to be back late August or early September. The Rockies did however make a few moves to bolster their middle relief in the bullpen before the trade deadline passed.
Trade #1 - On July 14th the Rockies traded 29 year old RP Robert Carson to the New York Mets. Carson had a fantastic season for St. Louis last season which led the Rockies to acquire him in the offseason but he struggled in the thin air of Coors Field gathering a 7.00 ERA before being sent down to AAA where he had an ERA of 7.57 over 54.2 innings. He has returned to form for the Mets as a starter. It's not bad though for the Rockies as they got 24 year old RP Robert Whalen who through 47.2 innings for the Mets had a 1.89 ERA and led all relievers in FIP at that point.
Trade #2 - The same day the Rockies made their 2nd of 3 trades that afternoon as they sent 21 year old minor league RP Jose Cruz to the Houston Astros. Cruz was recruited as a teen into the Rockies international complex and was in their rookie league currently. The Astros sent 26 year old rookie RP Braden Shipley to Colorado. Shipley pitched 41.2 innings this year with a 1.73 ERA.
Trade #3 - The final trade of the day for Colorado involved 29 year old RP Chris Withrow who was having a rough season with a 6.08 ERA and had no more minor league options. Instead of sending him through waivers the Rockies sent him to Tampa in exchange for 25 year old minor league SS Rodrigo Vigil who hit .310/.426/.413 with 2 HR and 20 RBI in Durham (AAA) this season.
The Rockies hope to have bolstered their bullpen with these moves for the late dogfight with the Dodgers and also save about $8,000,000 on next years payroll with the moves.
Top Team Performances
MLB Hitter - 1B Anthony Rizzo - .409/.488/.709 7 HR 22 RBI
MLB Pitcher - RP Jose Suarez - 19.1 IP 1.86 ERA 0.78 WHIP
AAA Hitter - RF Raimel Tapia - .315/.393/.426 1 HR 11 RBI
AAA Pitcher - SP Evan Anderson - 2-2 2.13 ERA 0.84 WHIP
AA Hitter - LF Cody Bellinger - .283/.349/.535 5 HR 20 RBI
AA Pitcher - RP Rayan Gonzalez - 13.0 IP 2.08 ERA 1.62 WHIP