Rockies forced to take stock after 2-4 homestand

DENVER -- At the end of six games with just two wins against two of baseball’s best teams, Rockies center fielder Ian Desmond insisted the defeat margins -- five by an erasable (especially at Coors Field) four runs -- showed the difference isn’t big.

That’s why Desmond made himself accountable for misplaying Josh Reddick’s fly ball into a two-run, third-inning double in Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss to the Astros. Drifting toward the wall but not expecting the ball to carry, Desmond ended up leaping and narrowly missing the ball.

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After a homestand full of close games that were swung on a limited number of plays -- in most cases, they were poorly thrown pitches in high-scoring games -- Desmond’s misplay came on a night when rookie righty Peter Lambert turned in his best home start. Limited outfield experience -- Desmond has spent most of his career in the infield -- and the way the ball carries at Coors Field, especially lately, didn’t help Desmond.

“I was playing kind of deep,” Desmond said. “I feel like lately, we’ve had a lot of balls drop in front of us. I felt I had a pretty good jump on it, but I didn’t want it to drop in front of me, but it just kept on carrying over my head.

“My defense lately, there’s room for improvement, to say the least. But like I said at the beginning when I started this, I’ve got to be able to give myself a little bit of grace. Obviously, you never want to hurt the team, but I don’t have a ton of instincts out there. I’m trying to do my best. But at the same time, you’ve got to be better to help the team.”

Desmond, who is hitting a solid .282 after struggles in his first two seasons with the Rockies, noted that a dropped fly ball in the Los Angeles series was just that, and not a function of a guy who has played center sporadically (in Texas in 2016, in Colorado this year). But he vowed to get better.

It’s a spirit the Rockies have no choice to take after falling short too often against some of the Majors’ best.

A misplay here, a drop there, a ball that falls in front here or there are ways Desmond can raise the Rockies’ quality. But, really, he’s just one player on a team that has a few areas to improve.

Here are some:

Pitching
Not a huge quarrel with Lambert, who entered with a 9.95 Coors ERA and gave up four runs in five innings. In addition to the Reddick double, which came with two outs and the bases loaded, Lambert gave up two homers -- Alex Bregman’s liner to left on a decent first-inning pitch, and Yuli Gurriel’s second-inning leadoff drive to center on a hanging curve.

Lambert (2-1) dusted himself off and went five innings. But that’s the rub. Over the past two homestands, Rockies starters have pitched just 66 innings in 13 games, with a 7.50 ERA.

“We led the National League in innings pitched last year as a starting rotation,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to do that this year. We’ve got to pick that part of our team up here, starting Friday [at Arizona] and then after the All-Star break, if we want to get to where we want to be.”

In a potentially positive development, Kyle Freeland -- who was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque one season after finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young Award voting -- pitched seven strong innings Wednesday for the Isotopes, allowing one run and striking out nine.

Bullpen
Again, this was a solid one. Chad Bettis shook off five runs and six hits in one-third of an inning in his previous outing and went two scoreless, followed by scoreless frames from Jairo Diaz and Wade Davis -- both of whom had a blow-up in the Dodger series.

“Our bullpen has to improve, collectively, to a man -- all 13 guys,” Black said. “All 13 guys who are active have to pitch better.”

Defense
This one is difficult to quantify, but there has been a step back from recent years. A team that often played with multiple multi-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners is down to one, third baseman Nolan Arenado, with outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and second baseman DJ LeMahieu having departed at the end of last season. (Shortstop Trevor Story could end up in the conversation as his name recognition grows.)

Add to that the position changes: In addition to Desmond, Ryan McMahon is in his first extended duty at second base, and Daniel Murphy is in his first season as a full-time first baseman.

“Offensively, we’re doing our part -- I think we’re leading the league in runs, we’re leading the league in average, leading the league in a lot of statistical categories,” Black said. “We have to pitch better, and we need to tighten up some things on defense.”

Desmond wants to learn the position and lead the way in the tightening.

“This is a tough outfield to play,” he said. “By no means am I an expert center fielder, Gold Glove center fielder. I’m just looking for answers just like everybody else, trying to keep on working.”