In 2016, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story became the first player in history to hit seven home runs over the first six games of his major league career. He needed just 27 at-bats to do it.
Entering Friday night’s game against Philadelphia at Coors Field, Story does not have a home run in 66 at-bats. In fact, Story has not homered since Sept. 17 vs. the Dodgers, a 29-game homerless streak of 109 at-bats that is the longest of his career.
But as Story will tell you, he’s a better hitter now than he was as a rookie five years ago, even though he’s batting just .273 with a .689 OPS and seven RBIs.
So what’s going on? Well, if Wee Willy Keeler hit ’em where they ain’t, Story has hit too many balls where they are. He’s smoked a number of line drives right at infielders and outfielders — and had a number of his hits have bounced off the wall.
For example, in the season-opening series vs. the Dodgers at Coors Field, Story blasted four balls deep only to see them land in Dodgers’ gloves. In Colorado’s 6-5 loss to the Dodgers on April 3, he hit a ball to left-center that, according to StatCast, would have traveled 423 feet, had it not hit the wall. It showed up in the box score as an RBI double.
Another example: In the first inning of an April 8 game against Arizona, Story pulled a ball down the left-field line at Coors Field, barely fair. But instead of a home run, the ball caromed off the high screen the Rockies installed a few years ago. The ball would have been a home run in any ballpark, except Coors Field and Fenway Park, so Story had to settle for another RBI double.
“It’s always frustrating when you hit the ball that hard, when you do what you’re supposed to, and you don’t get the payout for it,” Story said. “But that’s baseball, man. Everyone goes through that.
“I just try to focus on the process. If my process is right, I remove myself from those results and I can feel successful, even though it doesn’t always show up. I know that’s really hard to do. But that’s truly the way I go about it.”
In other words, Story knows that the home runs will come, quite possibly in bunches. And it’s not just anecdotal evidence that forecasts a rain of dingers.
According to Baseball Savant, Story’s expected number of home runs based on his batted-ball profile is 5.4. In other words, advanced metrics say he’s swung the bat well enough to have hit five homers this season.
More notable, Baseball Savant’s “expected home runs by ballpark” projects that Story would have hit nine home runs if all of his at-bats had come at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, or eight home runs at a number of other ballparks, including Chicago’s Wrigley Field. The statistic is based on different wall heights and distances, but it does not attempt to adjust for environmental effects.
Finally, Story’s 46.9% hard-hit percentage, 91.3 mph average exit velocity and .559 expected-slugging percentage are on pace to be the highest marks of his career.
“Trevor hasn’t had a lot of success statistically, but he’s had some good swings,” manager Bud Black said. “He would like to have some at-bats back, for sure. There were some strikeouts that he normally hits, but overall, he’s in a good place.
“Just a few hits will get him going. A few swings were just a tick late, and his timing is off just a touch.”
On DeckPhillies RHP Vince Velasquez (0-0, 9.00 ERA) at Rockies RHP Germán Márquez (1-1, 3.57)6:40 p.m. Friday, Coors FieldTV: AT&T SportsNetRadio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Marquez is rolling. He’s coming off a seven-inning complete game in Game 2 of last Saturday’s doubleheader against the Mets. He allowed two runs on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Coors Field has given the right-hander some problems in the past, but he’s 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three starts in LoDo this season. In four career starts vs. the Phillies, Marquez is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA. On Sept. 26, 2018, he pitched seven scoreless innings against Philadelphia while striking out 11. Matt Moore was in line to pitch in Denver, but he’s on the COVID-19 list. So Velasquez will make a spot start. He’s pitched four innings out of the bullpen, walking eight and striking out nine. The right-hander has made four career starts at Coors, posting a 5.31 ERA. Rockies shortstop Trevor Story has yet to hit a home run this season, but he’s hit two off Velasquez in 15 at-bats.
Trending: Charlie Blackmon has 1,320 career hits, leaving him 10 shy of tying Carlos González for the third-most in franchise history.
At issue: Outfielder Sam Hilliard continues to struggle with strikeouts, and that’s resulted in reduced playing time. An eighth-inning, pinch-hit strikeout on Wednesday left him 0-for-20 with 10 strikeouts since his last hit April 7. Hilliard is batting .097.
Pitching ProbablesSaturday: Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (1-1, 2.19) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (1-3, 5.40), 6:10 p.m., ATTRMSunday: Phillies RHP Chase Anderson (0-2, 4.15) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (2-1, 2.42), 1:10 p.m., ATTRMMonday: Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-2, 3.38) at Giants RHP Anthony DeSclafani (1-0, 2.14), 7:45 p.m., ATTRM
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April 23, 2021 at 07:00AM
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Rockies’ Trevor Story past due to bust out of home run drought - Fort Morgan Times
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