Like many savvy Rockies fans, Evergreen’s Pam Renney headed to Coors Field with faith in the weather and less for the product.
“I think they’ve got a good player,” said Renney, a lifer who wore a pinstripe Raimel Tapia jersey on opening day as a tribute to that favorite Blake Street rite of passage. exchange.
“But I don’t think anything else has changed.”
This good player being… Kris Bryant?
“Yeah,” she replied, her voice rising in disbelief. “And they said it was all we had to win. It’s like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ “
Dodgers 5, Rockies 3.
Skeptics remain adamant.
“You know, I think we have a really good dynamic off the field,” veteran Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon told The Post Friday night as the local clubhouse emptied. “On the pitch, I think we will find our way quite quickly.
“I think what’s scary is you don’t really know where the strike is going to come from. Obviously you have Kris Bryant and you have a few names. But I also think there are guys, maybe a little lower, which will surprise you here shortly.
Dodgers 5, Rockies 3.
Skeptics remain indifferent.
“Bringing Kris Bryant will bring the home runs,” sighed Denver’s Scott Goran. “It’s going to bring people in and make them happy.”
Goran walked into that happy, cash-hungry Lollapalooza that is McGregor Square with a purple felt chicken on his head. He bought the thing at Oktoberfest 2007, during the Rockies-Red Sox World Series era. He’s worn this bad boy on every opening day since.
“But they haven’t invested anything to start pitching,” Goran continued. “And because of that, the Rockies will not be participating in National League West. And they won’t, until the Monforts decide to spend some money to pitch. So it’ll be the same old, same old, this year.
Dodgers 5, Rockies 3.
Skeptics remain unfazed.
Especially after seeing the top four guys in the Rockies order combine for a hit — and it was Bryant’s deep center double — in the first seven innings of the game.
“We’re not far (far) at all,” shot back shortstop Jose Iglesias, the 10-year-old vet whose Rockies debut single, a tribute to his late father, moved him to the tears and elicited a sympathetic hug from Dodgers first baseman Freddie. Free man. “It’s a talented room.”
More talented than computer projections, anyway. Reliever Ashton Goudeau and Justin Lawrence came out of the bullpen to throw 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief on Friday, keeping baseball’s deepest starting nine within earshot. According to Spotrac.com, Los Angeles opened 2022 with a payroll of $285.5 million. Their starting nine carried a luxury tax charge of $130.2 million on Friday. The payroll for the entire List of Rockies? $137.9 million.
If Blackmon is a designated hitter playing right field, Randal Grichuk is a good corner fielder, historically playing center. But the latter also rode a deep bat drive from Mookie Betts to finish top of fifth, with runners, to snuff out a Dodgers threat.
At the bottom of the frame, Bryant recorded his first purple stripe shot, a rainbow to the wall in the center right away which, after Cody Bellinger lost a fight with the sun, turned into a standing double .
Prior to that moment, the highlight of the day for the No. 23 had been catching the ceremonial first pitch of new Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, Rox’s former farmhand. He also probably formed the most expensive — Wilson’s cap is $24 million, KB’s new contract would count for $26 million against the luxury tax — first pitch battery in Coors Field history.
Opening day is a killer for the pump. First impressions, not so much. Last April, the Fightin’ Dingers smoked big, bad, expensive LA in Game 1, 8-5. The Rox then dropped 10 of their next 12, and that was it.
Still, if Grichuk stays healthy, there’s a 25-home run floor that Tapia couldn’t hit. Although when Blackmon is in one corner and Bryant is in the other, you fear for the kid’s hamstrings.
“You know, I’ve been on the other side. And I was constantly surprised (by the Rockies),” Bryant noted earlier in the week. “The victories may not be seen, but there is talent here.”
Dodgers 5, Rockies 3.
Skeptics remain skeptical.
What about their, Chuck? What changed ? What would be you tell Pam and Scott now?
He stopped himself.
“I mean, that’s why we play 162 games, right?” Blackman replied “So if you want to know, buy a ticket.”
denverpost sports