Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, June 28, 2024
When it comes to the all-time home run kings in baseball, one of the most jaw-dropping stats is how many at-bats some of the game’s best long-ball hitters averaged between homers. In the all-time, career record book, Mark McGwire hit one homer every 10.61 at-bats. Aaron Judge is currently sitting at 11.5, while Babe Ruth was 11.76, Barry Bonds came in at 12.92 and Josh Gibson posted a 12.96. Since at-bats don’t factor in walks, it’s hard to say exactly, but these guys were basically averaging hitting a homer every three or four games.
For at least the first decade of their existence, the Rockies were known as a homer-hitting team. In their first 26 seasons (1993-2019), they only finished in the bottom third (20th or below) of team homers four times. In the last four seasons, they’ve doubled that by never finishing higher than 21st and tying a franchise-worst No. 26 last season. Even if they haven’t lived up to the Blake Street Bomber billing in recent seasons, they have had some extremely powerful, homer-hitting sluggers in team history. Colorado’s two Hall of Famers, Larry Walker and Todd Helton, four Blake Street Bombers, including Walker, and two recent players highlight the top-10 career at-bats per home run. Perhaps unsurprisingly, none are current players.
When it comes to single-season records, it gets even more awe-inspiring. In 2001, Bonds hit a homer every 6.52 at-bats when he finished with 73 and McGwire was at 7.27 in 1998 when he finished with 70. These were some of the most exciting seasons in the game when audiences tuned into games and expected to see a homer per game, which almost happened had it not been for the walks. Gibson hit a home run every 7.80 at-bats in 1937 when he hit 20 in 156 at-bats and Ruth’s best year was 1920 when he went yard every 9 at-bats to finish with 54 homers. Judge is highest on the current player list with a homer every 9.19 at-bats in 2022 when he hit 62 long balls. Judge tops the list again this season at 9.63 with an MLB-best 30 homers.
There are only five players on the Rockies top-10 single-season AB/HR leaderboard. Unsurprisingly, Walker made the list in four seasons, Helton and Andrés Galarraga each appear twice, and Carlos González and Vinny Castilla round out the top 10 with one season apiece. Again, no current player is on the list and González’s mark of 13.9 is the most recent in 2015.
Baseball changes over time and it shows up in the stats. The humidor decreased homers, the steroid era juiced them back up and the pendulum seems to have swung back in favor of pitchers in recent seasons unless your name is Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani.
When Nolan Arenado was a Rockie, he surpassed 40 homers three times (42 in 2015 and 41 in 2016 and 2019). His best AB/HR mark came in 2019 when he went yard every 14.34 at-bats. Trevor Story recorded a 13.78 AB/HR in 2016, but he only played in 97 games. His best homer year as a Rockie came in 2018 when he hit 37 home runs, equaling out to one homer per 16.16 at-bats.
In more recent years, C.J. Cron led the Rockies with 16.79 AB/HR when he hit 28 homers. When Cron hit 29 homers in 2022, he posted a 19.83 AB/HR. Cron departed before the trade deadline last season and Ryan McMahon figured to be the AB/HR heir-apparent. He finished with a 24.13 for a total of 23 homers, but it was Nolan Jones who posted the highest mark — hitting 20 homers in 188 fewer at-bats (46 fewer games) than McMahon for an 18.35 AB/HR.
This season, McMahon leads the Rockies with 14 homers, while Ezequiel Tovar is second with 12. McMahon also has the highest AB/HR of players who have started consistently throughout the season at 21.14 (in 296 at-bats), almost three at-bats quicker than last season. Tovar is next at 27.25 (in 327 at-bats), a monumental improvement from his 38.73 AB/HR in 2023 when he hit 15 homers.
The sped-up ratios are big for the Rockies, who are No. 24 overall in team homers at 75 entering Friday’s series against the White Sox. If you expand the statistics to include players with at least 100 at-bats, Hunter Goodman and Michael Toglia show up and jump over McMahon and Tovar. In 101 at-bats in 32 games, Goodman has seven homers for an AB/HR of 14.43. In 116 at-bats in 34 games, Toglia has hit eight homers for an AB/HR of 14.50 AB/HR.
Being in the 14er range, Goodman and Toglia are at least within reach of CarGo’s 2015 mark. It must be said that the fewer at-bats a player has, often the lower the AB/HR. Baseball is a marathon with streaks and slumps that tend to lower numbers over the course of a season. In other words, Goodman and Toglia have been outstanding in taking advantage of filling in for injured players like Kris Bryant, Elias Díaz and Charlie Blackmon. Goodman hit five homers during nine games Colorado’s homestand from June 15-23, but he also didn’t hit any in 15 games (46 at-bats) before that.
During a slightly longer stint, from June 15-25, Toglia hit four homers in 10 games. Toglia hit his first four in his first 11 games (March 28-April 15) and then went through a 12-game (38 at-bats) home run drought between the two homer-happy ends.
Earlier this week, Purple Row’s Evan Lang wrote about how much Goodman and Toglia were improving as sluggers this season across the board. The AB/HR mark is just another category to show their growth and potential. As players return from injuries and the roster shifts, and as we watch to see how much playing time Goodman and Toglia get in the final 82 games of the season, it will be worth watching how both players’ AB/HR numbers fluctuate. Even if they don’t stay in the 14s, the early ratios are promising.
With Rockies starters often struggling to get run support and the bullpen often blowing games, the Rockies offense has to produce more runs. Goodman and Toglia could be the sluggers the team has been looking for to fill the voids left by Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story and help Colorado move back toward its needed homer-heavy identity.
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VFL, Hall of Famer Todd Helton speaks on Tennessee’s success after winning the CWS | WBIR
It’s turning out to be a great year for Todd Helton. On July 21, the Rockies great will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This week, he also got to celebrate his alma mater, Tennessee, win the College World Series.
Mount Pleasant resident provides mental coaching for MLB players | WCIV ABC4
This is a great feature on Rockies director of mental skills development Dr. Doug Chadwick from a local news station in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. A few weeks ago, Rockies announcer Drew Goodman also talked to Chadwick on his podcast.
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On the farm
Triple-A: Salt Lake Bees 8, Albuquerque Isotopes 7
Salt Lake rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth to erase a 7-2 lead and pull off a come-from-behind win on Thursday night in Albuquerque. Greg Jones hit a two-run homer, Hunter Stovall added a pair of RBI singles, Connor Kaiser hit a two-run single and Jimmy Herron added a one-run single for the Isotopes. Peter Lambert was impressive on the mound, throwing 6 1⁄3 innings while only giving up two runs on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 7, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5
Yanquiel Fernandez hit a two-run triple and RBI single and Bladimir Restituyo hit a two-run single to help lift the Yard Goats to a victory on Thursday night. Mason Albright had a solid start, only giving up two runs on one hit with two walks and four strikeouts in five innings in a no decision. Juan Mejia pitched two scoreless innings for the win and Seth Halvorsen recorded the save. Warming Bernabel added an RBI single for Hartford.
High-A: Spokane Indians 4, Everett Aqua Sox 3
EJ Andrews Jr. hit the game-winning RBI single to score Jesus Bugarin in the top of the ninth and Kyle Karros hit a two-run homer to lead the Indians to a win on Thursday night. Chase Dollander, the Rockies top pick (No. 9 overall) in the 2023 draft, gave up three runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and a walk in five innings in the no decision. Bugarin and Karros both posted two-hit nights and Jean Perez added an RBI double for Spokane.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 6, San Jose Giants 1
Luis Mendez hit solo homers in the first inning and ninth innings and in between added an RBI double, fueling Fresno to a win on Thursday. Andy Perez added an RBI single and Ben McCabe hit a sac fly to score Jason Hinchman. Caleb Hobson posted two hits, including a triple, and scored a run. Austin Emener put up a decent start, giving up only one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in 4 2⁄3 innings for Fresno.
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