Talk about a Blake Street Bummer.

The Rockies are on pace to hit the fewest homers and post the lowest slugging percentage of any team in franchise history.

Veteran right-fielder Kris Bryant, who signed a seven-year, $182 million contract prior to last season, is on pace to hit 16 home runs this season. Third baseman Ryan McMahon, who signed a six-year, $70 million deal last spring, is on pace to hit 14.

But they are far from alone in underperforming internal expectations so far this season.

“We anticipated hitting more home runs,” general manager Bill Schmidt said Friday. “If you look at the back of the baseball cards, these guys have had a history of hitting more home runs. But I scratch my head, to be honest with you.”

With nearly one-third of the season in the books going into Memorial Day weekend, the power outage in LoDo is jarring. Colorado entered Friday with 40 home runs as a team, ranking 27th in the majors. The Rockies were on pace to hit just 127 homers and have a slugging percentage of .397 — both of which would be franchise lows.

The absence of emerging second baseman Brendan Rodgers, out all season because of a shoulder injury, hasn’t helped matters. But the current Rockies sluggers, an aging group to be sure, are light years removed from the 1997 Blake Street Bombers who hit 239 homers and slugged .478, albeit in the crazy pre-humidor days at Coors Field.

How concerned is Schmidt?

“Well, you build something, and you anticipate what they are going to do and they haven’t done it,” he said. “You hope when the weather warms up we start hitting more balls over the fence but it has been line drives, not homers. And it goes back to last year, and I was scratching my head then, too.”

Manager Bud Black has repeatedly vowed that a power surge is coming from the Rockies lineup. But the collective power outage has put Colorado’s offense in a dark place. Despite playing their home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field, the Rockies’ .715 OPS entering Friday ranked 16th in the majors.

More damning, the Rockies had a wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus) of 80, the second-lowest in the majors behind Cleveland (76). The metric is related to run creation and is scaled so that a score of 100 is average. Also, wRC+ is a park-adjusted metric, so the effect of hitting at Coors Field, Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park is accounted for.

This is the second consecutive season Colorado’s offense has lacked potency. Last year, the Rockies slugged .398, the first time in franchise history that they finished with a slugging percentage below .400. Colorado’s 149 home runs were the second-fewest in any full season in franchise history behind the 1993 club (142). Its wRC+ was 86, the fifth-lowest in the majors.

Bryant, who launched 39 homers for the Cubs in his National League MVP season in 2016 and 31 with the Cubs in 2019, said he understands that he’s expected to put the ball over the wall more, but he’s not fretting about it.

“You can’t force home runs,” said the 31-year-old, who was hitting .274 with five homers entering a weekend series vs. the Mets at Coors Field. “As much as you want the ball to go over the fence you just can’t swing for it every time. It’s worked for some guys, but sometimes those career paths don’t look as consistent.

“For me, I’m just trying to go out there and provide quality at-bats and consistent at-bats for the team. If that means hitting the ball over the fence, great. If it means taking a walk or getting on base, that’s what I’ll do. I also realize that power comes in bunches.”

But not so far for Bryant or most of the Rockies’ other sluggers.

Schmidt and Black figured they would get power from five primary players: First baseman C.J. Cron, catcher Elias Diaz, outfielder Randal Grichuk, McMahon and Bryant. Home runs from primary designated hitter Charlie Blackmon, who turns 37 on July 1, would be a bonus.

“We have seen all of those guys hit lots of home runs before, so, yes, it’s in there,” said Blackmon, who hit a career-high 37 homers in 2017 and 32 as recently as 2019. “So, how do we do it? That’s the question. If I knew exactly what to do, I would have already done it and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Entering the weekend, Cron (currently on the injured list with back spasms) and Diaz led the team with six homers apiece, with Diaz launching four in his last five games. Jurickson Profar and Bryant had five, rookie outfielder Brenton Doyle (in just 25 games, 75 at-bats) and McMahon had four, and Blackmon had three. Grichuk, who began the season on the injured list, had hit one homer in 19 games (73 at-bats).

More disconcerting, most of those presumed power hitters are not only on long ball droughts but their home run percentages are at career lows. McMahon, for example, entered the weekend having not hit a homer in 103 at-bats, and his 2.1 home run percentage was below his career average of 3.6%, and well below 4.5% when he hit a career-high 24 homers in 2019.

One major league scout who follows the Rockies extensively said that while McMahon’s bat speed is fine, his “long, loopy swing” makes it hard for the left-handed hitter to make solid, consistent contact on fastballs.

“That’s why you see so many of his hits going to left field,” the scout said.

While Schmidt admits that he’s disappointed with his team’s lack of homers, he points out that Colorado’s 110 doubles lead the majors — though 66 of those doubles have come at Coors Field, with its huge outfield and power gaps.

“When you’re leading the league in doubles, that usually means you’re hitting the back of the ball, not the bottom,” Schmidt said. “You’re hitting line drives but you’re not hitting the balls into the air to get that carry.”

Bryant said he’s not going to beat himself up for hitting line drives.

“When I look at myself, it would be kind of frustrating to complain about hitting line drives because I feel like I’m doing that a lot,” he said. “I’m hitting the ball up the middle and the opposite way. Yeah, I want to hit the ball more in the air. But I feel like a lot of my outs lately have been in the air and to deep parts of the ballpark.”

In 2016, at age 24, Bryant’s hard-hit percentage, according to Baseball Savant, was 38.9%. Last season, when he was limited to 42 games because of back and foot injuries, his hard-hit percentage was 29.6. This season it’s 32.2%. All of which leaves one to wonder if Bryant is healthy, or if those injuries sapped some of his power at age 31.

“No, I’m fine, I feel great,” Bryant said.

Schmidt and Black also say Bryant is healthy, and Black says Bryant’s swing looks good.

“I still think the power is going to come,” Black said. “There is just too much of a natural hitter in there and he has the ability to lift the ball. He has the tools. And when the weather starts warming up, I think you are going to see the production increase homers and slugging percentage.”

Schmidt has referred to Bryant as the Rockies’ “aircraft carrier,” and Bryant said he understood that when he signed the big contract he was expected to hit home runs.

“Of course, I’ve done that my whole life,” he said. “But there are other things that go into it. I don’t want to be labeled just a power hitter. When I was in high school, that’s all everybody talked about was power, power, power. But I wanted to be a good baseball player. I wanted to be a good hitter, first and foremost. I think If I do that, the power will fall into place.”

Bryant has hit 10 homers wearing a Rockies uniform. Last season, all five came on the road. This season, he’s hit three at Coors Field and two away. He believes there’s a misconception about Coors.

“It’s easy to look at where we are playing and think that it’s easy to homer here,” Bryant said. “But having been here for some time now, it’s not the case. I’ve always had that opinion, even as a road player coming here.

“Everybody would be like, ‘Oh, you’re at Coors Field and the ball flies out. You’re going to crush it.’ But you go out during (batting practice) and you’re like, ‘Man, I crushed that ball to center and it’s not over the fence.  That’s a homer in any other park I’ve played in.’

“That’s not an excuse by any means. I mean, if you pull the ball here you have a good chance of doing it.”

Bryant is slated to be in a Rockies uniform through 2028 and McMahon through 2027 in his age-32 season. But Blackmon, Cron and Grichuk are all scheduled to be free agents after this season, and Diaz is set to be a free agent after 2024.

The Rockies’ hope for the future is that young players such as Zac Veen, Elehuris Montero, Nolan Jones, Benny Montgomery, Yanquiel Fernandez, Jordan Beck and Doyle can bring the power back to Blake Street.

But for here and now, the Rockies better hope their veterans start living up to the back of their baseball cards.

Rocky Mountain Highs and Lows

With almost one-third of the season complete, the Rockies are on pace to hit just 127 home runs, which would be the fewest in franchise history for a full season. The previous low was in their 1993 inaugural season when they hit 142. The club’s slugging percentage is also on pace to be the worst in franchise history.

Home runs per game

Top five seasons
1. 1997, 1.48 *
2. 1995, 1.39 *
3. 2019, 1.38
4. 1999, 1.38 *
5. 1996, 1.36 *

Bottom five seasons
27. 2002, 0.94
28. 2005, 0.93
29. 2022, 0.92
30. 1993, 0.88 *
31. 2023, 0.78

Team slugging percentage

Top five seasons
1. 2001, .483 *
2. 1997, .478 *
3. 1999, .472 *
4. 1996, .472 *
5. 1995, .471 *

Bottom five seasons
27. 2005, .411
28. 2011, .410
29. 2020, .405
30. 2022, .398
31. 2023, .397

* Seasons played before baseballs were stored inside a humidor at Coors Field beginning in 2002.

Failure to Launch

The Rockies’ presumed power hitters are not producing. Following is a look at their home run percentages:

Kris Bryant
Age: 31
2023: 2.6%
Career high: 5.6% (2016)
Career average: 4.2%

Charlie Blackmon
Age: 36
2023: 1.6%
Career high: 5.1% (2017)
Career average: 3.4%

C.J. Cron
Age: 33
2023: 4.1%
Career high: 5.4% (2018)
Career average: 4.6%

Elias Diaz
Age: 32
2023: 3.7%
Career high: 4.9% (2021)
Career average: 2.7%

Randal Grichuk
Age: 31
2023: 1.2%
Career high: 5.4% (2018)
Career average: 4.6%

Ryan McMahon
Age: 28
2023: 2.1%
Career high: 4.5% (2019)
Career average: 3.6%

Note: 2020 pandemic season is not included | # Home run percentage is the percent off all plate appearances a home run was hit

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