The Colorado Rockies may have their best pitching staff ever

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German Marquez has a new, big contract and a big arm

I saw it posted as a response today to our latest podcast posting at the Phillies Nation feed on Twitter:

“Lose to lowly rocks pitching again boooooooooooo”

Now, I’m not going to point out the individual or account name who posted it. If you want to go hunt and peck, feel free to do so for yourself.

And I am fully aware that two things are likely in play here. First, some fans just don’t know what they are talking about. Second, Philly sports fans are passionate and often ride an emotional roller coaster from game to game.

However, it is important to any Phillies fan who cares about actual facts to understand that this ain’t your father’s, or even your big brother’s, Colorado Rockies starting pitching rotation.

The pitcher who shut the Phillies down last night was 25-year-old left-hander Kyle Freeland. He finished seventh in the NL Rookie of the Year Award voting back in 2017 after winning 11 games. The southpaw followed that up last year by finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young Award voting after a season in which he won 17 games with a 2.85 ERA and 173 strikeouts.

On Friday night the Rockies will send a 24-year-old righty from Venezuela, German Marquez, to the mound. In his last start, last year's NL Pitcher of the Month for September tossed a complete game one-hit shutout at the San Francisco Giants in which he struck out nine while walking no one.

As Corey Seidman pointed out today, opponents have simply been unable to hit the off-speed offering of Marquez, who also comes at you with an electric fastball.

Why the Diamondbacks / Rockies will win the NL Wildcard game

NL West rivals will meet in the NL Wildcard Game

The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins by an 8-4 final score in Tuesday night's AL Wildcard Game.

I called it 7-4, Yankees, in yesterday's AL Wildcard preview and prediction piece. Now it's time to take a look at the National League matchup.

Wednesday night will find the NL Wildcard Game taking place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. There the Arizona Diamondbacks will host the NL West Division rival Colorado Rockies.

The winner of this win-or-go-home matchup will move on to face yet another division rival. That would be the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will host the NLDS opener beginning on Friday.

Arizona has a first-year big league manager in Torey Lovullo. The 52-year old played 303 games in Major League Baseball, mostly as a utility infielder, spread across eight seasons between 1988 and 1999.

Lovullo did have extensive minor league experience. He registered more than 5,000 plate appearances over a dozen minor league seasons from 1987-99. He then wrapped up his playing career overseas in the Japanese Central League in the 2000 season.

Following his retirement, Lovullo was hired as a minor league coach by the Cleveland Indians. He would rise during the 2000's to become one of the most successful managers in the minors, becoming a frequent big league managerial candidate and interviewee.

Rockies draw close enough to earn their own 'Magic Number'

Pat Valaika hustles one of his two key hits in Rox victory

The Colorado Rockies defeated the host San Diego Padres on Sunday by an 8-4 score at Petco Park. In so doing, the Rockies lowered their 'Magic Number' to just six in order to clinch the second NL Wildcard playoff berth.

Colorado sits with an 84-72 record following victory. Also on Sunday, the Milwaukee Brewers (82-74) and Saint Louis Cardinals (82-74) both lost.

They are the only two teams capable of catching the Rockies as we enter the final week of the 2017 MLB regular season.

The win also raised the Rockies final road record on the season to 41-40. It marks just the club's second winning season on the road in their quarter-century existence. The only other team to finish with a winning road record was the 2009 club, the last Rockies team to reach the postseason.

The Rockies received a workmanlike effort over five innings on the mound from rookie German Marquez. The 22-year old righty allowed five hits and walked three batters, striking out two. He also earned the official win, raising his record to 11-7 on the season.

Manager Bud Black then utilized five different relievers to battle through the rest of the game. The Padres got to the first of those, Scott Oberg, for a pair of runs.

But the final four arms out of the Rockies bullpen totally shut down the San Diego bats. Pat Neshek, Jake McGee, Carlos Estevez, and closer Greg Holland combined to strike out seven over the final three innings, allowing no base runners.

Bud Black trying to guide Rockies back to the MLB postseason

Black and Rockies in control of a postseason berth

This is the first year as the skipper at the helm of the Colorado Rockies for former big league pitcher Bud Black.

Black has prior big league managerial experience, of course. For more than eight seasons, from 2007 through the opening months of 2015, he guided the San Diego Padres.

In that first season of 2007, Black succeeded Bruce Bochy. All Bochy had done was take the Friars to the postseason four times in a dozen years, including to the 1998 World Series. They remain the only postseason appearances in San Diego history, aside from the Fall Classic team of 1984.

San Diego would win 89 games that first year, but the team would finish in just third place. His 2010 Padres club won 90 games and finished in second. But neither of those teams, nor any of the others, would reach the postseason.

Those 2007 and 2010 clubs were the only in Black’s tenure to finish with a winning record. He was relieved of his duties 65 games into the 2015 season with the Padres languishing a game below the .500 mark. Overall he finished with a 649-713 mark as the manager in San Diego.

Surprising Mark Reynolds helps Colorado Rockies to surprising start

At the start of the 2017 season in Major League Baseball, the Colorado Rockies were not considered a favorite in the NL West Division.

Most prognosticators had the four-time defending division champion Los Angeles Dodgers as the favorites once again. 

If someone was going to dethrone LA, it was likely to be their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants.

Either the Dodgers or Giants have won eight of the last nine NL West crowns. The Giants have captured three World Series championships during that stretch.

The Rockies joined the division in MLB’s 1993 expansion. They last won the division title, well, never. In fact, the Rox have been to the postseason just three times. They went as the NL Wildcard in 1995, 2007, and 2009. That 2007 team is the only Colorado team to reach the World Series.

Yet here we are, nearly seven weeks into the 2017 season. And there at the top of the National League West Division standings are those Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are 25-15 following a 7-3 inter-league victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Colorado is not just a Coors Field phenomenon either. The club has a 13-10 record in the Mile High City. They also sport a winning 11-5 mark away from Denver.

As a result, the Rockies are three games up on the Dodgers, against whom Colorado has gone 5-4 in head-to-head matchups this season. They have also taken six of seven games over the Giants. The Arizona Diamondbacks, currently 2.5 games back in second place? Colorado has taken four of six.