Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, September 27, 2024
From Purple Row and throughout the MLB world, the tributes to Charlie Blackmon have flooded in all week — as it should be.
There will be a whole offseason to analyze the state of the organization, growth and failures from the 2024 season, future projections and many other storylines. For now, it’s worth dedicating a week to Chuck Nazty. It’s not common to have a player chalk up a 14-year career in the Majors, let alone with one team — not to mention an NL batting title, four All-Star appearances and two Silver Sluggers. Outside of Clayton Kershaw, who’s only pitched in seven games this year, Blackmon is the longest active tenured player with one team as he beat Mike Trout and Jose Altuve to their MLB debuts by 11 and 23 days respectively.
Much has been made of Blackmon’s stats, leadership, routines, attitude, beard and mullet and his legendary walk-up song, as well as how he won the heart of the Mile High City. And it’s no coincidence that he put up the best numbers of his career in the two seasons the Rockies went to the playoffs in 2017 and 2018.
However, there are two areas where I don’t think Blackmon is being given enough credit. So here’s my take on how much of an impact Blackmon had as a leadoff hitter and just how much of a staple he became in the Rockies lineup.
‘The best leadoff hitter I’ve ever gotten a chance to play with’
Those are the words of Nolan Arenado, referring to his former teammate.
Usually, the leadoff hitter is successful if they have a high on-base percentage, if they score a good amount of runs and if they can draw out long at-bats to help their team see the pitcher (and add to his pitch count). While there have been powerful leadoff hitters throughout MLB history, Blackmon was part of a movement that has led to where we are now: a place where sluggers like Altuve, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Ronald Acuña, Gunnar Henderson, Francisco Lindor, George Springer and more bat leadoff. Schwarber (38), Ohtani (34) and Henderson (31) have more home runs from the leadoff spot this season than the highest homer-hitting Rockies (Michael Toglia and Ezequiel Tovar, who each have 25).
In earning the 2017 National League batting title, Blackmon hit 37 homers from the leadoff position to lead all of MLB. That season, he also set the MLB record for 103 RBI at the No. 1 spot, breaking Darin Erstad’s mark of 100 RBI from 2000. (Betts and Acuña broke that record with 107 and 106 RBI, respectively, in 2023). His 37 homers were third-most as a leadoff hitter, behind two Alfonzo Soriano seasons when he hit 39 in 2006 and 38 in 2002. (Those have all since been beaten, most recently by Acuña’s 41 in 2023.)
Blackmon started the 2017 All-Star Game and batted first. He finished fifth in NL MVP voting that season. Blackmon’s career numbers make him one of the greatest Rockies of all time. They also make him one of the greatest leadoff hitters of all time.
Longevity and dependability
Blackmon made his MLB debut on June 7, 2011, but his first three seasons didn’t go very well in terms of dependability. He made it just over a month in his rookie campaign before he fractured his foot and ended his first season with just 27 games played. He bumped that number up to 42 in 2012, but continued to battle injuries (turf toe), going back-and-forth between the Rockies and the Minor Leagues.
After another season of being optioned and recalled between the Rockies and Triple-A, Blackmon finally got the call on July 8, 2013 and became a fixture in the Colorado lineup. He played in 82 games, including starting the last 9 as the leadoff hitter. In 2014, Blackmon officially replaced Dexter Folwer in the No. 1 spot.
From 2014-2019, Blackmon played in 93% of the Rockies games and hit leadoff 79.4% of the time. During that run, he averaged playing 151.5 games per season (the most was 159 in 2019 and the least was 140 in 2019).
During the 11-year stretch from 2014-2024, Blackmon has played in 87.5% of all Rockies games. Despite a torn meniscus in 2022 and a right hand fracture in 2023, Blackmon has averaged playing 133.6 games per season over the last 10 years (not counting the 59 he played out of 60 in 2020).
The Rockies handed the majority of leadoff duties in 2020 (35) and 2021 (99) to Raimel Tapia. Connor Joe played 83 games as leadoff hitter in 2022, while Blackmon batted first 31 times. Blackmon worked his way back to his natural batting position in 2023 when he led off in 72 out of the 96 games he played. He’s hit leadoff 101 times this season, ending his career in the same spot it took off from in 2014.
After the Rockies 10-8 win over the Cardinals on Thursday, Bud Black said that Blackmon would play in all three games this weekend against the Dodgers to end his career and the Rockies 2024 season. That means a good chance to add more to his stats.
When all is said and done on Sunday, Blackmon will have left his mark on MLB and the Colorado Rockies. There will never be another like him.
For Colorado’s sake though, hopefully, the next great leadoff hitter can follow in his footsteps when it comes to power and reliability.
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Blackmon, dad have a catch before homer No. 227 | MLB.com
As the weekend approaches with Charlie Blackmon T-shirt giveaways on Saturday and the official retirement ceremony before the season finale on Sunday, Thursday had its own special moment for Chuck Nazty. First, he played catch with his dad, Myron, on the field before the game. Then his mom, Ellen, and dad threw out the first pitch as Blackmon played catcher. Then Blackmon hit a homer and drove in three runs to help the Rockies beat the Cardinals 10-8. The scenes seemed straight out of a movie, showcasing the beauty of baseball and having a catch.
From forgotten pitching prospect to Silver Slugger | MLB.com
Imagine an alternate timeline where Charlie Blackmon was a pitcher for the Marlins or Red Sox. Weird right? Both teams drafted him, but he ended up staying in college, transferring to Georgia Tech, realizing he wasn’t a pitcher, transforming into an outfielder, and being drafted by the Rockies in the second round of the 2008 MLB Draft. Jonathan Mayo dives deep into Blackmon’s origins with a quote-driven story told by Chuck Nazty himself, as well as several of his coaches and scouts from the journey.
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