Dante Bichette has some opinions about how to fix the Rockies.
Yes, Bichette now lives in Florida. Yes, his son, Bo, is an all-star shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays. And yes, Bichette is a part-time hitting instructor for the Blue Jays.
But the Rockies’ former “Sledgehammer” outfielder keeps close tabs on the Rockies. Why wouldn’t he? He was a four-time all-star during his seven seasons in Colorado and carried a hefty .316 batting average. Of his 274 career home runs, 201 of them came wearing Rockies purple. Plus, Bichette spent the 2013 season as Colorado’s hitting coach.
“I understand the problem of trying to win here because I lived it. I get it,” said Bichette, who returned to Denver to participate in Sunday’s FanDuel FanFest activities at Empower Field at Mile High. “The baseball doesn’t break at home, so you get used to a certain style of pitching.
“But then you go on the road and the same guy who wouldn’t dare throw you a curveball at Coors Field last week, all of a sudden is throwing curveballs that are falling off the table. So you struggle and it takes you a while to make that adjustment. By the time you make it, it’s time to go back home. It’s a vicious cycle.”
Pitchers, of course, spin in the same cycle.
“I mean, Rockies pitchers work to throw their breaking ball at Coors Field, then they go on the road and all of a sudden they’re spiking their curveball in the dirt,” he said.
OK, so what’s the solution? How can the Rockies evolve from perennial losers to consistent winners?
“I’ve always felt that the team needs to win at home — big time — and they are doing that this season,” he said, aware that 2021 Rockies are on pace to go 54-27 at Coors Field. “But you can’t be this bad on the road. You just can’t. You have to be able to at least survive on the road and they haven’t been able to do that.”
That’s for sure. With a 14-45 road record, the Rockies are flirting with infamy. They’re on pace to go 19-62 away from Coors Feld. The worst road record in a 162-game season belongs to the 1963 Mets and 2010 Pirates, both of whom went 17-64.
But then, Rockies fans who’ve paid attention this season know all about that. They have lived it.
So what’s Bichette’s formula for success? The Rockies’ 1995 team. The one made the playoffs in just the third year of the franchise’s existence. The one that saw Bichette lead the National League in home runs (40 in a 144-game season), RBIs (128) and slugging percentage (.620), and finish second to Cincinnati’s Barry Larkin in the NL MVP race.
“In 1995, we were able to win big at home (44-28) and still compete enough on the road (33-39),” he said. “One of the keys was that we were able to hit enough home runs on the road to win close games.”
In 1995, the Rockies hit 66 road homers vs. 134 at Coors Field. That’s still a huge disparity, but the ’95 playoff team also had another crucial ingredient.
“We had tremendous relief pitching,” Bichette said of the relief corps that posted a 4.64 ERA. “If we got a lead, we held it. I think there is a formula in that ’95 team that can work.”
Of course, that neophyte playoff team wasn’t the only one to utilize that formula. The Rockies’ 2007 World Series team sported a bullpen with a 3.85 ERA, and 68 of its 171 homers came on the road. The 2009 playoff team had a 4.49 bullpen ERA and hit 92 of its 190 home runs away from Coors. And in 2018, the team that came closest to winning an NL West title had a 4.62 bullpen ERA and hit 91 of its 210 homers on the road.
So Bill Schmidt (or whoever becomes the permanent general manager), Dick Monfort, your mission is clear. You have to find a slugger (or two) and you have to prop up that shaky bullpen. Listen to Dante.
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