DENVER -- Rookie second baseman Ryan Ritter said the Rockies’ recent offensive improvement rises from an atmosphere of “a lot of conversation, and no bad questions.”
Warming Bernabel provided the latest answer on Monday night at Coors Field with a ninth-inning RBI single to give the Rockies a 4-3 walk-off over the Dodgers -- who had beaten them in 10 straight previously. It was a fourth straight win for Colorado and the sixth victory in its past seven games.
Before the game, Ritter recalled how two conversations led to hits in Sunday’s 6-5 victory over the Diamondbacks.
A dugout suggestion from hitting coach Nic Wilson led to a fifth-inning bunt single.
“He mentioned, very nonchalantly, ‘Hey, think about bunting with the third baseman back and less than two outs,’” Ritter said. “It happened, so I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m going to do it.’”
A talk with bench coach Clint Hurdle and general manager Bill Schmidt led to a two-run single during the game-turning rally.
“Clint and Schmidt were like, ‘Where does the defense play you a lot?’” Ritter said. “I said, ‘The second baseman is behind the bag and the first baseman is over a lot.’ They said, ‘There’s a lot of room over there.’ I hit it to the right side and got two RBIs. Then I looked to the dugout at Clint, laughing.”
Ritter joked, “I haven’t seen them yet, but I’m going to say, ‘What do you want me to do today? Tell me to hit a home run and I’ll do it.’”
In the game, however, Ritter delivered a two-run second-inning single against the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto that looked like an instant replay of Sunday’s hit.
Controlled at-bats against the Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski won Monday’s game -- a bloop double by Ezequiel Tovar, who had homered earlier off Yamamoto, and the single from Bernabel. The first baseman is slashing .301/.326/.542 in 22 games since being called up from Triple-A Albuquerque.
“Ever since I became a baseball player, I haven’t felt pressured during my at-bats -- I go out there trying to execute,” Bernabel said with Edwin Perez interpreting.
Interim manager Warren Schaeffer’s strategy is the exact opposite of telling players already tempted -- because of the way the ball carries at Coors Field -- to swing for the fences.
“I could care less about that, to be honest,” Schaeffer said. “I care about guys who put the ball in play on a highly consistent basis. That plays in this yard.”
No snide cracks like, “Let’s start a World Series parade,” please. This is a long-term project for the 36-89 Rockies.
But the strikeout-strewn sorrows that led to the replacements of hitting coach Hensley Meulens and manager Bud Black are fewer.
Hurdle, the onetime Rockies coach and manager who was working as a special assistant concentrating on the Minors, replaced Meulens. Hurdle became bench coach when Schaeffer was promoted from third-base coach to replace Black on an interim basis. Wilson, the Minor League hitting coordinator, and Jordan Pacheco, the former Triple-A hitting coach, joined the Major League staff.
Mostly young hitters who spent time in the Minors aspiring to be the answer to the Rockies’ hitting woes were hearing familiar hitting voices. Hurdle said they’ve dispensed with discussing “team at-bats … they’re all team at-bats.” Now, they discuss learning from each experience.
“There’s a lot of buy-in going on up here,” said recent callup Kyle Karros, who drew a walk in one of the rallies against the Diamondbacks, and a third-inning leadoff walk before Ritter’s two-run single.
Schmidt quietly improved the offense late in Spring Training by signing Mickey Moniak after he had been released by the Angels and trading outfielder Nolan Jones to the Guardians for Tyler Freeman, the current leadoff hitter. Moniak and Freeman had dealt with sporadic playing time and learning themselves as hitters at other stops, and have found success with regular time.
“I’ve always thought they were good players, and at the end of the day that’s what I told the coaches,” Schmidt said. “Our staff has done a real good job. I’ve seen growth.”
Tovar, a talented player who is growing as a leader (en español), said players are soaking in clubhouse advice -- but also relying on one another.
“You can prepare as much as you want, but they [opponents] may change their plans,” said Tovar, who said that before his opposite-way homer, he noticed a gesture from Yamamoto that told him he wanted to work outside. “It’s important for us to stay on task, understand that we have to communicate.
“When we have those conversations about what pitches are coming, that’s when you string those at-bats and learn and understand their game plan.”
Properly advised hitters, the Rockies are learning, are hard to beat.