Charlie Blackmon is in a slump. And a pretty deep one at that.
He entered the Rockies’ Tuesday night game against the Giants at Coors Field slashing .212/.271/.323 with one home run and nine RBIs in 28 games.
When asked about his funk at the plate, Blackmon crisply replied, “I just don’t think I’m getting any hits right now.”
When asked to expand on the reasons why, Blackmon said, “I think my peripherals aren’t bad right now. It’s just that things aren’t going my way right now.”
Peripherals?
“I don’t think I’m chasing way more, and I don’t think I’m making bad decisions in the box any more than I was,” he said. “I don’t think my swing is bad.”
However, the results have not been good for the left-handed hitter, who signed a one-year, $13 million extension at the end of last season. With Giants lefty Kyle Harrison starting Tuesday night, Blackmon was not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game.
Blackmon, who turns 38 on July 1, had a solid spring training and opened the season hot, slashing .333/.404/.571 through his first 11 games. But over his last 17 games, entering Tuesday’s game, he had put up a meager .123/.167/.140 slash line. On Colorado’s recent 1-7 road trip, he hit 3 for 20 (.150).
Blackmon missed three games in mid-April with a stomach ailment that spread through the Rockies clubhouse. He said that might have gotten him off track.
“It does seem like I stopped hitting as well right about then,” he said.
Blackmon’s 14% strikeout rate is the ninth-lowest in the National League, but his last home run was on April 8 vs. Arizona. Last season, he hit just eight homers in 413 plate appearances for a career-low home run rate of 1.9%. In comparison, in his remarkable 2017 season, when he won the NL batting title with a .331 average and hit a career-high 37 homers, his home run rate was 5.1%.
Manager Bud Black has a theory about Blackmon’s recent struggles.
“With Chuck, I think he’s probably expanding the zone a little too much,” Black said. “In a quest to get hits, there are guys that, to get out of a slump, sort of swing their way out. I think that’s what Charlie’s been doing.”
Kris Bryant update. Oft-injured first baseman/right fielder Kris Bryant, out since April 14 with a back injury, has begun doing some light baseball work, but there is still no timetable for his return.
“He’s doing well,” Black said. “(It was) a positive day for ‘KB.’ He was in the cage, hit off the tee with some soft toss. He’s running.”
Before going on the injured list, Bryant hit .149 with one homer in 13 games (55 plate appearances). Asked if Bryant’s problematic back might have affected his slow start, Black said, “I don’t think so.”
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