DENVER – Coors Field has been kind to the Rockies’ Mickey Moniak since he joined the team last season – like Sunday, when he homered twice in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies.
But the place misbehaves every now and then.
With two out in the top of the fifth, the Rockies held a two-run lead over the Phillies – with Moniak’s first-inning solo homer being part of the reason. But the sun blinded Moniak on Trea Turner’s fly ball, which resulted in a double that put runners on second and third. It was the second fly ball he lost during the season-opening three-game homestand.
Kyle Schwarber drove a Tomoyuki Sugano pitch to deep center, but Jake McCarthy caught it against the wall. Sugano, who held the Phils to one run (Adolis Garcia’s homer) in six innings, laughed sheepishly as he left the mound.
Moniak had a more visceral reaction.
“Schwarbs put a good swing on that next pitch, and my heart sank for a split second,” Moniak said.
Moniak lifted all Rockies’ hearts in the bottom of the inning by going deep for a second time against Trajuan Walker – this one off the facing of the seating deck above the Rockies bullpen. It was Moniak’s first multi-homer game since last Sept. 14, when he homered twice in a loss at San Diego.
With two daytime starts this time of year in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the bright sun created problems throughout the series. Moniak also lost J.T. Realmuto’s fly ball for a double during the Phillies’ seven-run first inning of their 10-1 win in the series-opener.
“Anytime from 2:15 to about 2:45, it gets pretty tough over there,” Moniak said. “I don’t know if it’s just early in the year, but [the sun] is high and just sticks right there in the middle, right over your face. I was telling guys I don’t remember it being like that last year, but maybe it’s something we’ve got to deal with and work on.”
The performance was a flashback to 2025, when Moniak slashed .303/.348/.598, finishing third in the National League (min. 200 PA) in home slugging and fifth in home OPS (.946). Moniak missed the season-opening road trip to Miami and Toronto with a right index finger injury.
Seems Coors is a good place for him to start ‘26.
“Mick picked up right where he left off last year – an approach to the whole field,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He just got a couple up that he hit out of the ballpark.”
While his Coors numbers are stellar, Moniak remembers that he didn’t make the best first impression at Coors early last season in his Rockies introduction. He was released by the Angels late in Spring Training and signed with the Rockies just before Opening Day.
“If you look at last year, the first two months weren’t the best,” said Moniak, who avoided arbitration with the Rockies by signing a one-year, $4 million contract over the winter. “Then from June on, I felt I really unlocked something. There are obviously differences in playing at altitude versus sea level. The ball does different things. But from June on, I unlocked something in my swing where I go up to the plate and feel comfortable, feel I can do damage.”
Sunday was a good time to celebrate the 10th year since the Phillies drafted him No. 1 overall out of La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif.
“I was talking to my wife about that recently – [time] flew,” said Moniak, who noted gratitude for Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long instilling confidence during the unsure days of his early career. “Looking back at spending seven years in Philadelphia, the fact that it was that long and it felt like seven years flew by, same as the last three or four, it’s pretty crazy.”
The Rockies hope their early struggles will fly away, also. They had struck out 45 times in the last three games. Sunday marked only the second time in nine games that the 3-6 Rockies exceeded three runs.
Sunday was Haunt the Phillies Day on a couple of fronts. Two batters after Moniak’s first homer, TJ Rumfield pulled a two-run homer over the out-of-town scoreboard in right field. Rumfield was a 12th-round Phils pick in 2021, was traded to the Yankees the following year, and acquired by the Rockies in a trade before this season.