Schlereth: Rockies have ‘much better’ shot at playoffs than Broncos
Jul 20, 2017, 9:35 PM | Updated: Mar 12, 2023, 7:44 pm
In most years, a week out from training camp the buzz would fully focus upon the Denver Broncos return to Dove Valley and drown out any hope of the Colorado Rockies staying relevant in the month of August.
This isn’t most years.
Yes, the Rockies experienced a “June swoon,” losing eight of nine games to finish out the month.
But, Colorado finished with the first three months of the season above .500 in each month, and have since pulled above the mark in July with a four-game winning streak heading into a weekend series at Coors Field against the Pittsburg Pirates.
The Broncos, on the other hand, are coming off a down 2016 season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time in the John Elway executive era, have a first-time head coach in Vance Joseph, and have no starting quarterback.
Oh, and no deal has been made to extend Elway beyond the 2017 season, his last on his original contract, though an agreement could come next week.
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So, given the choice by a listener on Thursday on whether the Rockies or Broncos are more likely to earn a postseason berth, “Schlereth & Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth took the former.
“I think the Rockies are a playoff team. And I think the Broncos are an 8-8-ish team,” Schlereth said.
Schlereth said he sees the Rockies making a trade before the upcoming deadline to bolster its rotation or bullpen, which would be enough to keep the club “relevant,” especially if the bats heat up as they have of late.
The Broncos, however, have “too many variables going on with the offensive side of the ball and the schedule.”
“The division with which they play in is so hard that I think the Rockies have a much better chance of being a playoff team than the Broncos do,” Schlereth said.
In the three seasons following a Rockies postseason run — 1995, 2007, and 2009 — the Broncos failed to make the playoffs each time.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.
