The 2017 Colorado Rockies came into the season with expectations of a potential postseason berth. Their 2017 season has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs as the Rockies scarcely hold onto the second wild card spot in the National League, just 2.5 games ahead of the Brewers for the last playoff spot.

The Rockies began the first three months of the season on the right note posting winning records in the months of April, May and June then began to find themselves struggling in July and August as star closer, Greg Holland, who started out strong, saw struggles in August as he began to blow several save opportunities.

After recently bouncing back last weekend with a four-game sweep of first place Los Angeles Dodgers in shocking fashion, the Rockies faced a crucial four game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks who hold the top NL wild card spot in the National League.

The Rockies saw this as a fighting chance to catch the Diamondbacks for that first wild card spot as the Rockies took the first two games of the series with close-fought 5-4 and 4-2 victories. The Rockies however, saw a combined struggle in both pitching and getting their bats going as they lost the next two games by scores of 8-2 and 7-0 to fall back five games behind the Diamondbacks for the top wild card spot. The Rockies took advantage of a struggling Padres squad over the weekend when they took two out of three games from the Padres to remain in their same wild card position.

The remaining weeks of the regular season will be a true test of each team’s resilience and abilities to cope under the pressure of the race for who will play in October. Every game in these next two weeks will be crucial. The keys for the Rockies will be strong bullpen performances from relievers Greg Holland, Pat Neshek and the rest of the Rockies bullpen as the Rockies pitching has seen a series of struggles as of late with the exception of rookie starter Jon Gray.

Offensively, the Rockies this season have been led by center fielder and NL batting leader Charlie Blackmon, who has 34 homeruns on the year, along with a supporting cast of power from outfielder Mark Reynolds, and All Star third baseman and Gold Glove candidate Nolan Arenado.

If the Rockies are able to hold on to at least the second wild card spot they will see themselves playing in October and competing for the Fall Classic for the first time since 2009 and only their fourth playoff berth in franchise history.