Struggling McMahon waiting on 'one pitch to get a feeling back'

DENVER – Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon’s slump worsened to 2-for-50 during Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Reds at Coors Field. It likely won’t change for Sunday’s three-game series finale, since manager Bud Black plans to give him a day off from the starting lineup to regroup.

But McMahon knows it doesn’t take much to change fortunes.

“It takes one pitch, man – one pitch to get a feeling back,” McMahon said.

Often the problem during the plunge, McMahon’s problem has been three pitches – as in strikeouts, 25 of them in 13 games leading into Saturday. He didn’t strike out on Saturday.

The strategic reason for Black to rest McMahon is matchup-based, to keep him from a left-on-left against Reds starter Nick Lodolo, who has held hitters of all handedness to a .218 batting average.

“We’re probably going to give him a day off tomorrow against the lefty,” Black said. “We’ll let him exhale a little bit.

“‘Mac’ is built to play every day. I mean, he’s in a tough spot. He’s ahead of the off-speed pitch and behind the fastballs. His timing is off. Hopefully with tomorrow off, we’ll rest him and get him going against Atlanta [Monday-Wednesday].”

McMahon hasn’t been alone in struggling. The Rockies are 4-22 – joining the 2024 White Sox, ‘22 Reds, ‘03 Tigers, 1988 Orioles, 1936 Browns and 1932 Red Sox as the only teams in the Modern Era (since 1901) to lose at least 22 of their first 26 games. They’re 3-8 at Coors.

“I’ve got to start producing, got to start helping the team,” McMahon said. “I can’t be in the 3-hole, doing what I’m doing.”

As the Rockies’ longest-tenured position player (he debuted in 2017, the first of two postseason years), McMahon has carried the mantle of sounding board and example for a squad that skews young. As rough as the season has been for him and the team, McMahon maintains credibility because of the behaviors he models.

“I think I do a good job just showing up and being the same guy,” McMahon said. “There are a lot of things that they [less-experienced teammates] don’t have their heads completely wrapped around on a daily basis. So I’m still trying to be there, to give them answers if they need help.

“Just because I’m not playing well doesn’t mean that I don’t have a grasp on different things. So I’m still trying to be a sounding board for them.”

The current struggles are extreme, but McMahon has battled downturns in recent seasons. The past couple of years, however, there were extreme hot streaks early and in the middle, but he has worn out at the end.

Even this year, McMahon had a seven-game hit streak before the crash.

“It’s a humbling game – a very hard game,” said McMahon, who said he has been talking with new hitting coach Clint Hurdle about adjustments, but bringing those to the game is taking time. “All I can do is show up, keep being myself, make sure I’m here to support my teammates and keep working.

“I’m at the show-up-and-play-baseball stage. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I show up ready to work, and I come in every day with a good attitude and make sure I’m listening to the hitting coaches. We’re working to try to figure it out.”