Alright, so I wanted to really break down that Colorado Rockies vs New York Yankees game the other day. Wasn’t just about who won or lost, I like getting into the nitty-gritty of how the players actually performed. Numbers tell a story, you know?
Getting Started
First thing I did was grab my notepad. Yeah, I know, old school, but sometimes it just helps to write things down first. I had the game recorded, but honestly, digging through live footage for every single stat takes ages. So, I went online. My usual routine is to check a couple of the big sports sites – ESPN, MLB’s official site, maybe Yahoo Sports. You’d be surprised, sometimes the box scores look slightly different or update at different speeds.
I wasn’t looking for anything too fancy, just the core stuff. Who got hits? Who drove in runs? How did the starting pitchers do? And crucially, how did the bullpens hold up? That’s often where games are won or lost.
Digging into the Stats
So, I pulled up the box score for that specific game. I started with the Yankees’ lineup. Went down the list, player by player. Aaron Judge, of course, you always check his line. How many hits, home runs, RBIs? Made a note of his at-bats versus his hits.
Did the same for the Rockies. Looked for guys like Kris Bryant or maybe Charlie Blackmon if he played. Noted down their key offensive stats. It’s a bit tedious, clicking through player profiles if the main box score is too basic, but you get the details that way.
Then, the pitchers. This is key. Checked the starter for each team – innings pitched, hits allowed, earned runs, strikeouts, walks. Those numbers give you a real good picture of their outing. Then, I looked at every single relief pitcher who came into the game. Sometimes a guy comes in for one out, but that out could be huge, or maybe he gives up the game-losing run. You gotta track ’em all.
Organizing the Mess
Once I had the raw numbers scribbled down or copied from the sites, I tried to make some sense of it. Didn’t use a fancy spreadsheet this time, just grouped things logically on my page.
Key Hitters (Yankees):
- Player A: Hits/AB, RBI, Runs
- Player B: Hits/AB, RBI, Runs
- …and so on
Key Hitters (Rockies):
- Player X: Hits/AB, RBI, Runs
- Player Y: Hits/AB, RBI, Runs
- …and so on
Then I did a similar breakdown for the pitchers, focusing on Innings Pitched (IP), Earned Runs (ER), Strikeouts (K), and Walks (BB).
What I Saw in the Numbers
Looking at the stats laid out like that, it became pretty clear why the game went the way it did. You could see exactly which hitters carried the load and which ones struggled. On the pitching side, maybe the starter for one team was solid, but the stats showed their bullpen couldn’t hold the line. Or vice-versa. Sometimes the raw numbers really highlight a specific inning or a pitching change that totally shifted the momentum.
It wasn’t rocket science, just took a bit of time to pull the data together. But yeah, that’s how I went about digging into the player stats for that Rockies vs Yankees matchup. Gives you a better feel for the game than just the final score.
