Rockies @ Dodgers April 25, 2014: I Don’t Believe Charlie Blackmon Is Real

Pretty much every time someone brings up the stats to date of a player, whether good or bad, I usually reply with this: Charlie Blackmon is hitting .410/.453/.692. That’s the same Blackmon who hit .291/.321/.416 in parts of three seasons prior to 2014, and while there’s at least some evidence that this is a tangible improvement, the point is this: April is weird. Anything can happen over a few weeks of play. A guy like Blackmon, starting in right field tonight for Colorado, can put up a ridiculous month with a . 391 BABIP. It’s so, so early. It doesn’t mean that Blackmon is great and Chase Headley and Allen Craig are terrible. April is weird.

	Rockies			Dodgers
	7:10pm PT			Los Angeles, CA
RF	Blackmon		2B	Gordon
3B	Arenado		RF	Puig
LF	Gonzalez		SS	Ramirez
SS	Tulowitzki		1B	Gonzalez
1B	Morneau		CF	Kemp
C	Rosario		LF	Crawford
CF	Dickerson		3B	Uribe
2B	LeMahieu		C	Federowicz
P	Lyles (R)		P	Beckett (R)

Still, the performances we’re seeing right now count. It’s not like when we get to September, we’ll say that the wins gained in April didn’t matter, because they do, and as the Dodgers get their first look at Colorado and their league-best — by a lot — offense, the fact that Blackmon and Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Morneau and friends are tearing things up matters, especially when Josh Beckett is the one who has to deal with all of that.

Fortunately, the Dodgers get to face off against Jordan Lyles, who somehow, in the age of everyone striking out at all times ever, has managed to whiff a mere 14 in 23.2 innings.

The Dodger lineup Lyles will face features Carl Crawford hitting sixth, the first time since 2012 he’s hit lower than second. Crawford has, admittedly, been terrible so far. But if there’s hope, it’s this: his 23.5 percent line-drive rate is the best of his career. His .269 BABIP is the lowest, by a lot. It’ll turn around for him if that keeps up. It basically has to.

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