TJ

Rumfield

Only the Rockies. This was a meaningful game for their opponent, too, but not as meaningful as a .300 batting average. Rumfield singled in the first inning Saturday and then was replaced prior to his second at-bat, leaving him at .300/.390/.453 in 631 plate appearances for the year. He’s been a great success as a 26-year-old rookie, but given that he’s sported some of the league’s weakest exit velocity numbers, he still doesn’t seem like a very good bet going forward.

Rumfield blasted a solo shot off Sean Burke in the top of the second inning to give the Rockies their first and only run of the game. It was the 16th homer of the season for Rumfield, who has homered three times in September while slashing a scorcing .351/.425/.545.

He was replaced by TJ Rumfield who had been slated to get a day off on Sunday. Karros is considered day-to-day and should return to action early next week.

He’ll retreat to the bench for the first time this month against LHP Framber Valdez. The Rockies will bat Connor Norby second in Rumfield’s absence. Rumfield is hitting .271/.372/.406 against left-handed pitching this year, losing a bit of the power he shows against righties.

Rumfield and Cole Carrigg both tripled and homered in the contest. He also drew a walk, and hiS OPS is now up to .841 with 15 roundtrippers and 65 RBI. The Rockies are an objectively terrible baseball team, but the seasons of players like Rumfield and Carrigg create long-term optimism.

Rumfield drew a walk in the first inning, then went hitless in his next two at-bats before coming through for the Rockies in the seventh. With the game tied and a runner on, he took Luis De León deep for a go-ahead, two-run blast. The home run was his 14th of the season while hitting .290/.384/.443 with 56 runs scored and 63 RBI across 547 plate appearances.

Rumfield, who had nine walks in the series, would have a Moneyball movie role waiting for him on a better team. He’s batting a hilarious .239/.426/.283 over his past 15 games.

Rumfield scored the Rockies only two runs – both via Troy Johnston groundouts – in a game where they had 10 hits versus four by the Cardinals. Alas, Rumfield is now up to a .296 batting average and .374 on-base percentage as a rookie. Each of those marks are top-10 among all players in the National League.

He’ll take a seat against LHP Shane Drohan. Rumfield’s only slugging .410 in 18 July games with one homer, but he’s still hitting .317 with a .417 on-base percentage in those games. Troy Johnston, another lefty bat, is manning first base for Rumfield today.

It’s both Rumfield’s first four-hit game and his first four-RBI game. The homer came off reliever Caleb Ferguson, making it his second off a left-hander in 116 plate appearances this season. He had been without a home run since June 21, but it wasn’t mattering much; he hit .351 over 21 games during the span anyway. He’s now eighth in the majors with a .302 average and 17th with an .868 OPS. His mediocre exit velocity numbers don’t really back those figures up, but he’s been a big find for a player who was passed over in the Rule 5 draft before being acquired from the Yankees.