I have a soft spot for the Colorado Rockies. I feel at times their hitters do not get the attention that they deserve because they hit regularly at the hitter’s friendly park of Coors Field in Denver. Larry Walker, for example, should have been inducted into Cooperstown years ago. However, he had to wait for his final year of eligibility to get in.
This season, it is outfielder Charlie Blackmon of Dallas, Texas, who is making headlines. The 34-year-old who battled coronavirus, has got off to a spectacular start.
After his first 16 games, Blackmon is now batting .484. That is the highest batting average for a player in his first 16 games of the season since Barry Bonds batted .525 with the San Francisco Giants according to ESPN.
In addition to batting average, Blackmon currently leads the Major Leagues in hits (31), runs batted in (19), on base percentage (.514), and on base and slugging percentage (1.217). On base and slugging percentage is also known as OPS.
Despite leading the Major Leagues in hits, Blackmon has not yet registered a triple. He has 23 singles, five doubles, and three home runs. Blackmon has also scored 16 runs, had five walks and one sacrifice fly.
Blackmon’s best offensive performance of the season came on Monday night. That is when he had his first four-hit game of the season in a 12-8 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rockies meanwhile have got off to a great start as a team in 2020. With a record of 11 wins and five losses, they are in first place in the National League West and lead the Los Angeles Dodgers by half a game. Ironically many experts picked the Rockies to win the 2019 division title, but Colorado finished 35 games back of the Dodgers a year ago.
