Black mixes lineup 'to get our best hitters up'

PHILADELPHIA -- Though Charlie Blackmon is obviously no stranger to the leadoff spot, it's been rare to see him hit atop the order over the last couple of seasons.

That was the case on Friday night, however, when Rockies manager Bud Black penciled in his third different leadoff hitter in as many nights. Blackmon made just his third start in the leadoff spot since the beginning of last season. He was followed by Trevor Story, who hit second for just the second time since the start of June.

Each of the next three batters -- C.J. Cron, Ryan McMahon and Elias Díaz, respectively -- were also bumped up from their usual spots.

The decision wasn't matchup-based (the Phillies went with a bullpen game), nor was it a matter of anything Black had (or hadn't) seen from anyone in his lineup.

Instead, the explanation was much simpler than that.

"I think the thought process today, with our coaches, was to get our best hitters up there the most -- let's get Chuck and Trev and Cron and Mac and Díaz up there as many times as possible," Black said. "You know, we're looking at on-base percentage, we're looking at batting average, we're looking at slugging, we're looking at OPS -- we're looking at all those things -- and for us, with the guys who are playing tonight, we felt that was the way to go."

The new-look lineup came one night after Brendan Rodgers made his first career start in the leadoff spot in Thursday's 4-3 victory over the Phillies. Overall, the Rockies have used six leadoff hitters this season: Raimel Tapia (88 starts), Garrett Hampson (26) Connor Joe (23), Blackmon (three), Rodgers (one) and Chris Owings (one).

Some of those players obviously bring different skillsets than others, which is another factor that has played into some of the experimenting atop the order. After all, Black pointed out that the No. 1 spot isn't always occupied by the prototypical leadoff hitter anymore.

The Rockies' skipper cited Monday's game against the MLB-leading Giants, when San Francisco deployed Darin Ruf as its leadoff man. Black also mentioned the Cubs' use of Anthony Rizzo in the leadoff spot over the last couple of years prior to the three-time All-Star being dealt to the Yankees at the Trade Deadline. Along those same lines, Kyle Schwarber -- who has 150 career homers and 12 stolen bases -- has hit an MLB-leading eight leadoff home runs this season.

"The days of what we thought the lineup construction should be based on some traditional thinking -- it's not so much anymore, right?" Black said. "It just looks different than what we've all been used to over the course of many years."

It's not just the leadoff spot, either.

Colorado has also used 10 players in the No. 2 spot in the order. In fact, the Rockies haven't used any one batting order more than twice this season -- and Friday's alignment marked their 130th unique batting order in 142 games.

"Before every game, we talk about lineup construction," Black said, "and what makes the most sense, what looks right, what gives us the best chance to score runs."