It was cruel, really, that in the season when he finally had enough good teammates around him to pile up wins, Carlos Gonzalez's sweet swing deserted him. Year after year, the Rockies right fielder has produced at the plate. But in 2017, as his team set all sorts of club records for wins, Gonzalez struggled mightily.
Finally, CarGo appears to be coming around.
Gonzalez has been on a tear since the start of September. He's slashing .438/.571/1.031 with four home runs, 11 RBI and nine walks. On Tuesday in a 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks, Gonzalez mashed two monster home runs.
The first came in the third inning and put Colorado ahead 2-1.
The second, a 478-foot bomb in the seventh, put the Rockies ahead for good.
Both were two-run shots. Gonzalez drove in all four of the Rockies' runs. It was his first multi-home run game since Aug. 3, 2016.
"There was no reason to lose faith, because I had everybody’s support," Gonzalez said on AT&T Sportsnet's postgame broadcast afterward. "I had the fans, my manager, my teammates, my family, all of them have been there for me."
At the start of August, Gonzalez was batting .228. He's raised that all the way to .254 in less than a month and a half. He appears to be getting NBA Jam levels of hot.
The Rockies' lineup is so much better because of it. Colorado scuttled through August because of its punchless offense. The Rockies scored five runs or more just seven times in the month of August. In September, they've already matched that total, and they're only 12 days in.
Gonzalez is figuring it out after a spring and summer full of frustration. He's played a large part in helping the Rockies rip off six-straight Ws during one of the toughest portions of their schedule.
Look out.
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