[XxVols98xX]

Rockies Second-Month Recap: Colorado Surges Into First, Langford and Jenkins Heat Up, and the Rotation Survives the Injury Wave

The Rockies did not make it easy on themselves.

They lost three starting-caliber arms to the injured list in May. They had to select contracts, move Andrew Sears back and forth between roles, ask Kyle Freeland for more than originally planned, and lean on bullpen depth that was already being tested one month into the season.

And yet, when the calendar turned to June, Colorado was exactly where it wanted to be.

First place.

The Rockies enter June 3 at 33-22, good for a .600 winning percentage and the top spot in the NL West. They are only narrowly ahead of Arizona, but the important part is that Colorado has moved from chasing the division to leading it. After opening May at 16-11 and still trying to stabilize a reshaped roster, the Rockies went 17-11 in May and have started June with a win.

That is a strong second checkpoint for a team carrying unfinished business from last year’s World Series sweep. It is also a reminder that this version of the Rockies can absorb punches and keep moving.

The first month was about run prevention carrying an offense still finding itself. The second month was about the lineup waking up.

And the biggest reason is the middle of the order.

Wyatt Langford looks like Wyatt Langford again. He is hitting .301/.386/.555 with 14 home runs, 48 RBIs, 43 runs, a .941 OPS, 154 OPS+ and 1.9 WAR. He won NL Player of the Week on May 17 after a monster stretch, and by early June he sits among the National League leaders in home runs and RBIs. Colorado needed its franchise bat to keep the offense grounded while the roster around him changed. Langford has done more than that. He has carried the run production.

But the biggest month belonged to Walker Jenkins.

After a quiet April, Jenkins turned May into his arrival statement. He won NL Batter of the Month after hitting .343 with seven home runs, 24 RBIs and 21 runs during the month. His season line now sits at .290/.371/.530 with nine homers, 35 RBIs, 11 steals, a .901 OPS, 143 OPS+ and 2.0 WAR. That is exactly the version Colorado traded for: power, patience, athleticism and impact.

The top of the order has become dangerous because Slater de Brun has stayed hot too. De Brun is hitting .307/.376/.540 with 11 home runs, 26 RBIs, 37 runs, 11 steals, a .915 OPS, 147 OPS+ and 2.2 WAR. He remains the table-setter, but this is not empty leadoff production. He is hitting for average, power, speed and value.

That trio has changed the feel of the offense.

A month ago, Colorado’s lineup was middle-of-the-pack. Now the Rockies rank third in the NL in runs scored, fourth in slugging, fourth in OPS, fourth in wOBA, third in home runs and fifth in stolen bases. The offense still has flaws — the baserunning grade is ugly, the strikeouts are high, and several spots remain inconsistent — but the run creation has clearly climbed.

Richard De Los Santos continues to be one of the quieter success stories of the season. He is hitting .275/.354/.456 with six home runs, 21 RBIs and a 120 OPS+, giving the bottom of the order real life. Manuel Santana has not fully broken out, but his .254/.315/.381 line, four homers, 25 RBIs and solid defense are playable for a 21-year-old shortstop learning on the job. John Stewart has been steady at .272/.326/.401, while CJ Abrams has struggled to find his rhythm at .194/.250/.291 since returning from injury.

The bigger concerns are still catcher, first base and third base.

Jase Mitchell is hitting .220/.271/.335 with a 65 OPS+. Ben Rice is at .217/.290/.369. Miles Williams is down to .180/.259/.326 despite seven home runs. Those are three important bats still searching for traction. The Rockies have survived because Langford, Jenkins, de Brun and De Los Santos have carried so much of the load, but the lineup becomes much scarier if even one or two of those colder bats heat up.

The rotation has been more complicated.

Ryan Weathers has remained the staff anchor. He is 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA, 63.1 innings, 65 strikeouts and 1.8 WAR. He leads the club in innings and strikeouts, and he continues to look like the veteran front-line arm Colorado trusted with the Opening Day assignment.

John Backus has been solid, though not quite as sharp as his early ERA suggested. He is 6-3 with a 3.17 ERA through 11 starts. The 1.01 WHIP is excellent, but the nine home runs allowed and 4.54 FIP are worth watching. Still, he has given Colorado volume and wins while the rest of the rotation shuffled around him.

Kyle Freeland deserves real credit. He opened the year outside the rotation, moved in when Jack Kochanowicz went down, and has given the Rockies 52 innings of 3.29 ERA ball. That is exactly why veteran depth mattered. Freeland was supposed to be insurance. Through two months, he has become one of the reasons the rotation survived.

The injury wave hit hard in May.

John Goodwillie went to the 60-day IL with a broken kneecap and is expected to miss five months. Kyle Bradish landed on the 15-day IL with elbow tendinitis. Wuilberth Mendez followed with elbow inflammation. For a team that invested heavily in rotation depth and entered the year believing pitching would be its October separator, that was a rough stretch.

But Colorado patched it together.

Bryce Elder had his contract selected and gave the Rockies 18 innings with a 4.00 ERA. Kochanowicz returned from rehab and has been excellent in a small sample, allowing only two earned runs in 11.2 innings. Sears moved back into the rotation temporarily, then returned to the bullpen when Kochanowicz rejoined the club.

The overall pitching picture remains strong. Colorado ranks second in the NL in ERA, second in starters’ ERA, fourth in bullpen ERA, second in runs allowed, and third in pitching WAR. The defense has slipped some, and the walk total is not ideal, but this is still one of the better run-prevention clubs in the league.

The bullpen is still led by Devin Williams, but the story is more balanced now.

Williams has 16 saves and a 2.35 ERA. He is no longer spotless, but he remains the ninth-inning answer Colorado signed him to be. Tyson Neighbors has a 1.61 ERA in setup work, and Seth Halvorsen has been outstanding with a 0.66 ERA in 27.1 innings. George Volfson has quietly stabilized after a shaky April and now owns a 2.30 ERA in 27.1 innings.

There are still pressure points. Hidehiko Tamai is at 4.62. Graham Ashcraft is at 4.37. Easton Hawk has struggled at 6.00. Andrew Sears has a 5.79 ERA while being asked to cover a difficult swingman role. But the high-leverage structure looks much better than the middle innings.

The farm system also had a loud month.

Chris Dorfman forced his way to Double-A Hartford and has kept hitting. David Lopez won ACL Player of the Week after a huge start. Gil Maciel was named California League Pitcher of the Month after dominating May with Fresno, then earned a promotion to Spokane. Victor Ramirez was promoted to Low-A Fresno after posting a 2.14 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 21 innings. Joey Hayward moved up to Double-A after a strong A+ run.

That matters because the big-league roster is already showing why the system has to keep feeding the window. Injuries hit quickly. Depth gets tested quickly. Colorado is not developing prospects in the background anymore. It is developing the next wave of reinforcements for a contender.

That is the shape of the season now.

The Rockies are in first place. The lineup is much more dangerous than it was a month ago. Langford is driving in everything. Jenkins has arrived. De Brun looks like a star. The pitching staff has survived a brutal injury stretch. The bullpen has enough late-inning answers. The farm system is already producing movement.

But the concerns are still real.

The division is tight. Arizona is right there. The Dodgers are only a couple games back. Bradish and Mendez need to return healthy. Backus needs to keep the ball in the park. Rice, Mitchell, Williams and Abrams need to hit more. The middle bullpen has to clean up. And the Rockies cannot keep relying on the same three bats forever.

Still, this was a good month.

A very good month.

At the first checkpoint, Colorado was stable. At the second, Colorado is leading the NL West.

The Rockies are not a finished product. They are not at full strength. They are not playing their cleanest baseball yet.

But they are 33-22, in first place, and starting to look more like the team they believed they could become when they reshaped the roster over the winter.

The unfinished business is still out there.

For now, Colorado is right where it needs to be.