NL West leader: Colorado Rockies
In a way, the Rockies are not unlike the Twins and Brewers. They’ve had a surprisingly hot start to the year but have next to no distance between themselves and the Dodgers, who have won the National League in each of the last four seasons.
But Colorado is on track to win 98 games right now. And even if we assume that Los Angeles will eventually win the NL West, the Rockies remain comfortably ahead in the Wild Card race. So, we can treat them like a more legitimate playoff team.
The problem is that, despite playing at Coors Field, Colorado is only 13th in baseball in OBP (.325). Hitting isn’t the problem, either, as the Rockies are fourth in batting average (.267). The problem is that the Colorado hitters can get a little impatient at the plate. They strike out too often and don’t draw enough walks.
The Rockies are 24th in walks (164). Some of that can be attributed to the opposition. After all, if the opposing pitcher is throwing strikes, you’re not going to draw walks.
But Colorado ranks seventh in strikeouts (503). That’s more indicative of the hitters being too aggressive and not swinging at the right pitches.
Now, the lack of walks isn’t always such a killer when the playoffs roll around. Teams that are too dependent on the walk tend to struggle in the playoffs against pitchers that have good command. But hitters who strike out a lot will have similar struggles against those pitchers.
It will be important for the Rockies to become more disciplined. If nothing else, it will get more pitches out of the starters, testing the depth of the opponent’s bullpen. In Coors Field, that’s a recipe for a lot of runs.