@MarkKnudson41
Strike One: There’s a saying in baseball that almost always holds true: “Ball always finds the new guy.”
What this is typically referring to is a substitute being inserted into the game and usually having a ball hit in his direction almost immediately. And in the case of defensive sub who may not be as adept at fielding the ball as the player he’s replacing, the result is often times not all the great. So there’s some level of sarcasm involved.
In Denver, the epitome of the “new guy” is pitcher Austin Gomber, the lone major leaguer who was part of Colorado’s return in the ill-fated Nolan Arenado trade with St. Louis. Gomber isn’t the new guy in terms of being a mid-game substitute – he was the starting pitcher in the Rockies series finale with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. But he’s every bit the “new guy” round here, and it was very clear in his first start that he was feeling every bit of pressure that’s accompanying his role in the unpopular trade.
In the first inning, Gomber walked four, made an error on the first ball hit back to him, and dropped a throw at home plate that would have saved a run. He gave up three runs in the top of the first without yielding a hit.
Ball always finds the new guy.
Ironically, it was the Rockies defense that kept things from being worse.
Gomber ended up going three innings, giving up those three runs before the Dodgers got their first hit off him. He ended up walking seven and took the loss in a 4-2 Rockies defeat. However, Gomber also registered the first hit of his Rockies career. He’s hitting 1,000 in purple pinstripes…so there’s that.
To expect Gomber to step right in and please fans who are still steaming over the Arenado trade is unrealistic and unfair. Arenado is a multiple time All-Star who’s headed for the Hall of Fame. Gomber is a pedestrian big league pitcher (no shame in that, trust me) who has a chance to help the Rockies, but who isn’t going to make anyone forget about Clayton Kershaw.
Maybe things will get better for him when he’s no longer feeling the pressure of being “the new guy.” We’ll see.
Strike Two: There’s some outstanding baseball being played around here. It’s at the college level.
Despite the crappy March weather, three local teams are off to exciting starts. Air Force continues to impress, backing up wins over LSU and Wichita State with a three-game sweep of UNLV. The Falcons could be a factor in the Mountain West post season. But it’s at the Division II level where Colorado is best represented on the diamond at the moment.
Colorado has had a lot of high quality college baseball coaches, led by Northern Colorado’s Tom Petroff, who coached in Greeley for 15 seasons. He took UNC to six NCAA tournaments – the school was a D1 program in those years – and to the College World Series in 1974.
But even Petroff, as great as he was, didn’t accomplish what Skip Hanks has done at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.
All Hanks has done is win 15 RMAC titles – including the last eight in a row – taken his team to the NCAA D II National tournament 17 times, made it to the D II College World Series four times – including a runner-up finish in 2019 – and been the RMAC coach of the year 11 times. And he’s been the National Coach of the Year, too. (2019.)
This year’s Mavericks are 18-2 overall as Easter arrives, 15-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and ranked #2 in the nation in Division II.
But they’re no lock to win that ninth straight title.
Led by Ryan Strain, a former assistant at UNC and Nebraska, and the son of former big leaguer Joe Strain, the rejuvenated Metro State University Roadrunners are 21-3, 17-3 in the RMAC, ranked #17 in the nation and ready for a four-game weekend showdown with Mesa this weekend in Grand Junction.
Metro has already had a perfect game tossed for them by pitcher Cade Crader, a graduate of Grandview High who figures to start the first game of the series against Mesa. The series will be the only four regular season games between the two nationally ranked teams this season, but they’ll likely meet up in the post season tournament in mid-May.
Should be fun to watch if you’re looking for a home team with a better than average chance to win.
Strike Three: Tis the season for Broncos obsessed among us – and you know who you are – to fixate on every little thing that happens – and doesn’t happen – off the field. The pre-season is five months away. Gotta have something to talk about.
When the schedule comes out – or at least when we know who the opposition is going to be, even if the order hasn’t been established yet – fanatics begin to speculate on what the next won-loss record could be. Win this one, lose that one…and it all comes out to a record that gets you into the play-offs! Celebrate!
Same thing, every year. Rinse and repeat.
This year, Broncos fans are excited because the slate – which has to include two games with the powerful Kansas City Chiefs – is still ranked as the fifth easiest in the NFL. Favorable schedule. Solid free agent acquisitions. Sure fire hits in the upcoming draft. Super Bowl, here we come!
But as the man on TV says…not so fast my friends.
The ranking of schedule strength is one of the most dubious things in all of sports. It’s based on last year’s won-loss records for all teams….squads whose make up can change dramatically from season to season. Every season is full of surprise teams who rise up from non-contender status and become play-off teams. And vice versa. Last season, that early season trip to New England was supposed to be a daunting task for the Broncos. Even after the NFL manipulated the COVID wracked schedule to accommodate the Patriots and make sure they were almost at full strength for the game, the sub-.500 Broncos went to Foxboro and beat the Pats. Turned out that New England wasn’t any good last season. No one predicted that ahead of time.
We all expect the Broncos to be an improved team in 2021. Key players have been added already to a core that should include Von Miller and others returning from injury. Drew Lock will be a year older, have gotten a full off season of work, and will have the same coaches for a second straight year. Those are all positives.
But in terms of the schedule, it’s also fair to expect the Chargers to be much improved – and they have the best young QB in the division who doesn’t do insurance commercials on TV. The Raiders should be better, too.
The Broncos have to travel to Cleveland, Dallas, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and the NY Giants. There’s not a single “gimme” in that group. All of those teams should also be improved. Baker Mayfield. Zak Prescott. Trevor Lawrence. Ben Roethlisberger. Daniel Jones. Will the Broncos have the edge at QB over any of those teams? Maybe the Giants???
Denver also hosts the Ravens, Bengals, Eagles, Lions and Jets. Baltimore has a former MVP under center. Cincy has a future star at QB, and the Eagles might too. The Lions will have Jared Goff and the Jets will probably have Zach Wilson calling signals.
And oh ya, you get to face that Mahomes guy twice.
So before we let the “strength of schedule” talk get us all fired up, let the 2021 versions of these teams take the field.