Road warrior Rockies hope to continue trend

MIAMI -- The road has become a friendly place for the Rockies, at least from Opening Day through May 31 the last two years.

The Rockies, set for Thursday afternoon’s season opener against the Marlins, can credit good early road performances as a key to making the postseason the last two years.

Part of the reason is better road weather -- or climate control, as at Marlins Park -- than at Coors Field. It could bode well for 2019. The Rockies begin with four at Miami and three at Tampa Bay, have a West Coast San Francisco-San Diego swing, and are at Atlanta and indoors at Milwaukee through May 2. That leaves little chance for road games in snow.

Last year, the Rockies' home opener against the Braves had a temperature of 27 degrees -- and pitcher German Marquez shunned sleeves, and absorbed an 8-3 loss. Weather did not warm up much in the early months.

“It’s nice knowing that you don’t have to play in snow,” third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “But we’re going to have to go home, anyways, and we’re going to have to play cold games. So it doesn’t matter for us, but it’s nice to play in warm weather just like Arizona.”

About the only difference between Spring Training and Thursday is humidity.

“The weather plays a big effect in how the ball travels, the way your body feels,” shortstop Trevor Story said. “It feels really good in the humidity, get a sweat going.”

Rockies players were careful to avoid placing emphasis on early road games, especially having lived 25 years hearing about their road struggles ad nauseum. But the proof is in the record.

Last year’s 44-38 record was best in club history, but Colorado was .500 (25-25) after May 1. In 2017, the club began 18-9 through the end of May and finished 41-40. So the solid work has something to do with two of the only three winning road records in club history.

“All the games are really important, so yes it’s important to play well early in the season on the road,” leadoff man Charlie Blackmon said. “I would much rather have a good start on the road. That way you’re winning games, feeling good about yourself. That’s going to help you be a better baseball player.”

The mantra is, "It’s how you play, not necessarily where you play."

“No answer for that,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “I’d like to think we just play good, solid baseball. We’ve probably pitched well. We’ve probably got timely hitting. Overall, our defense has been good the last couple years, so we don’t beat ourselves.”

Special, even without lasers
After a lengthy journey through four other organizations (Rays, D-backs, Twins and Angels), independent ball, and numerous winter leagues, righty reliever DJ Johnson made his first Opening Day roster.

But Johnson has strong memories from his Opening Day in the Mexican Pacific Winter League for Los Mochis in Sinaloa, Mexico.

“We were playing in Mexicali, and they had a whole laser show and had drones flying all over the place, fireworks,” Johnson said. “They turned all the lights off. It was something I’ve never seen before. It was kind of impressive.

“We were all standing in the dugout watching, and everything was synchronized, all in tune with each other, lighting up.”

New guy at second
Thursday marked the first time since 2013 that DJ LeMahieu (now with the Yankees) did not start on Opening Day at second base. But left-handed-hitting Ryan McMahon, a rookie last year who bounced between Triple-A and the Majors and played extensively at first base and third (as well as some second), made his first Opening Day start.

McMahon, 24, and right-handed-hitting Garrett Hampson, 24, will likely platoon at the spot. McMahon said a full Spring Training accelerated his learning curve. His angles to the ball needed the most work.

“You’ve got a lot more time at second base, and you’ve got to be able to take deeper angles at times,” said McMahon, who made his Major League debut at Marlins Park on Aug. 12, 2017. “It’s knowing when to push those angles -- fast runner, ball a little bit further away. It’s getting those down, seeing the ball off the bat.”

McMahon’s .424 Spring Training performance, which earned him the Rockies’ Abby Greer Award as spring MVP, went away as of the season’s beginning. But he wants to hold the feeling of performing so well.

“It is Spring Training, but in my head it’s still baseball and still a really hard sport,” McMahon said. “I’ve grown a lot of confidence from the spring I had. I hope to roll it over and help the team out in 2019.”