Ryan McMahon looking to help Rockies break home run drought

Home runs person been fewer and acold betwixt for the Rockies this season.

Ryan McMahon believes helium tin assistance alteration that. Soon.

“I’m trying to grind retired immoderate at-bats and assistance the squad and bash everything I can,” the 3rd baseman said Friday anterior to Colorado’s crippled against the Dodgers successful Los Angeles. “I deliberation if I get successful the portion again, the location runs volition come. As everybody ever says, ‘That’s baseball, that’s conscionable however the crippled goes.’ The location runs travel successful bunches and determination is nary existent reason. It conscionable benignant of happens.”

McMahon entered Friday’s crippled with a team-high 16 location runs but had not launched a shot implicit the partition successful 24 games, the second-longest drought of his career.

“It’s not thing that I deliberation astir daily,” helium said. “I’m evidently alert of it and I cognize I haven’t jogged astir the bases successful a while.”

As a team, Colorado lacks firepower. With 88 homers, it’s connected gait to decorativeness with 149, which would beryllium the second-fewest successful franchise past for a afloat season. The 1993 inaugural nine deed 142.

Numbers suggest the McMahon is owed for a location tally binge. Over his past 15 games, helium was hitting .321, with 4 doubles and 4 RBIs entering the weekend. His 42.4% hard-contact complaint ranks sixth successful the majors, trailing lone Fernando Tatis Jr., Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Shohei Ohtani and Salvador Perez.

“Home runs travel successful spurts, but I deliberation ‘RyMac’ has been swinging the bat great, arsenic of late,” said seat manager Mike Redmond, who’s been managing the squad portion Bud Black has been retired to bash COVID-19 protocols. “Typically, erstwhile guys commencement swinging the bat well, their assurance grows and past the location runs come.

“We cognize ‘Mac’ tin deed and erstwhile helium gets hot, helium gets hot. The location runs are going to travel erstwhile they come.”

McMahon, however, doesn’t deliberation he’s been successful a large spot astatine the plate. That’s thing helium wants to rectify.

“I’ll beryllium truly honorable with you guys, I haven’t felt that large astatine the sheet for the past period oregon so,” said McMahon, who had a .258 mean and a .794 OPS entering Friday’s game. “I’ve been benignant of grinding it retired and moving connected worldly daily, to effort to get to the champion spot I tin beryllium in. But that’s baseball, man, it’s a pugnacious sport.”

It’s a motion of his maturation that McMahon has been capable to proceed to tract his presumption good and not autumn into a heavy slump astatine the plate.

“The younger maine would person been disquieted astir putting up numbers, and things similar that,” helium said. “I person a bully viewpoint connected however each of this works now. You spell retired and play for the squad and everything other benignant of takes attraction of itself.”

Back from COVID. Redmond said that Black is “close to returning” from his absence, and added that archetypal basal manager Ron Gideon was back, successful azygous and would manager Friday night. They person been retired since July 16.

Pitchers Yency Almonte, Jhoulys Chacin and Antonio Senzatela, arsenic good arsenic outfielder Yonathan Daza, were placed connected the COVID injured list. Senzatela and Chacin are present astatine the Rockies’ installation successful Scottsdale, Ariz., moving their mode backmost to the big-league club. Almonte and Daza volition soon study to Arizona, Redmond said.

Injury updates. Utility subordinate Chris Owings underwent country connected his near thumb, marking the 2nd clip this play he’s had country connected the thumb.

Right-hander Peter Lambert, rehabbing from past year’s Tommy John surgery, pitched unrecorded batting signifier Friday, throwing 21 pitches.