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MEDIA CLIPS – April 12, 2016 Story rides 7 HRs to NL Player of the Week nod Rockies rookie went yard a record number of times in first 6 games By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | April 11th 2016 DENVER -- After hitting a Major League-record seven home runs in the first six games -- not only of the season, but of his career -- Rockies rookie shortstop Trevor Story was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday. Story went deep twice against D-backs pitcher Zack Greinke last Monday to become the first player of the modern era (since 1900) to homer twice in a season opener that happened to be his Major League debut. And the firsts kept coming. He went deep in the first four games, tying Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire ('98), Nelson Cruz (2011) and Chris Davis ('13) for the Major League mark. After not homering Saturday, Story added his seventh homer on Sunday. The Elias Sports Bureau reported Monday that he is the first rookie to have seven home runs over any six-game span. No one could have expected these heights, but Story, 23, expected to account well for himself after winning the starting job in Spring Training. "I've always had the confidence I could play at this level," Story said after Sunday's 6-3 victory over the Padres, during which he homered in the eighth off right-handed reliever Brandon Maurer. "Sometimes confidence wavers, but I think belief is the big part of it. I believe that I can play here. It's been fun so far. "It's a good feeling to perform like I have so far, but it's a long season." 1 Story and fellow rookie Tyler White of the Astros, the AL Player of the Week, join the Dodgers' Fernando Valenzuela and the White Sox's Salome Barojas as the only rookies to both be named Player of the Week (April 6-12, 1981) for the first week of a season since the award's inception in 1974. Story, a supplemental first-round pick (45th overall) out of Irving (Texas) High in 2011, certainly made the first week a long one for pitchers. He's lifting all kinds of pitches, at all different speeds, over the wall. Three homers have come on fastballs in the 92- 93-mph range. He's taken out two sliders, at 83 mph and 85, plus a changeup at 83 and a curve at 78. This is not to say Story is impossible to pitch to -- he has eight strikeouts. But with seven of his nine hits being homers against different types of pitches, he's certainly difficult. No doubt opponents will be studying the video for holes. "I guess that's a little advantage," Story said of the fact that there is more Major League video on the pitchers than on him. Well, after one week, the pitchers have a highlight reel to give them nightmares. 2 Rockies' pitchers looking to get off to better starts By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | April 11th 2016 DENVER -- It wouldn't be accurate to say right-hander Chad Bettis was so tired of hearing criticism of the Rockies' starting rotation during the season's first week that it inspired his solid work in Sunday afternoon's 6-3 victory over the Padres at Coors Field. He'd had enough before the season began. "It puts a chip on our shoulder," Bettis said during Spring Training. "It's a little aggravating hearing it every day. But it's something that we've got to accept. Move forward with and understand that it all relies on pitching and defense." Even a start as good as Bettis' was on Sunday -- seven innings, two runs (one earned), six strikeouts and one walk -- it isn't enough to kill the nagging issue. The Rockies are 3-3 going into Tuesday's opener of a three-game set with the Giants at Coors Field. But just twice, Bettis on Sunday and right-hander Tyler Chatwood in 6 1/3 innings Wednesday at Arizona, has a starter completed as many as six innings. The struggles are against the backdrop of an offense that has scored six or more runs in all but two of the games. Rookie shortstop Trevor Story owns all kinds of records with seven home runs in his first six Major League games, Carlos Gonzalez has three homers and Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu two apiece, as Colorado entered Monday's play leading the Majors with 17 homers. The story hasn't changed. Last year at home, the Rockies were third in the Majors in first-inning runs and led the Majors through three innings, but their pitchers' ERA through the first frame and through the first three were worst in the Majors. Through six games this year, three at Arizona and three at home, the team's 7.98 ERA is highest in the game. The starters' 7.40 ERA ranks 26th of 30 teams and has meant the strong back of the bullpen has had fewer innings than long and middle relievers who have struggled. Colorado is avoiding the finger-pointing that could easily result. After his 3 1/3-inning struggle in the home-opening loss to San Diego, disconsolate righty Jordan Lyles said the loss was "on my shoulders," but Gonzalez expressed support. "It's good to hear that one player is trying to take all the blame, but it's not fair," Gonzalez said. "Everyone had an opportunity to change the game. Early in the game, we had the bases loaded and didn't score." 3 The good news is the solution is simple: get and stay ahead of hitters. "It's an offensive park, so hitters swing early and swing often," Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster said. "But that's what the pitcher has to overcome. You turn it around by pitching to contact, not running from it." But in two starts, lefty Jorge De La Rosa (12.46 ERA) has finished 16 of his 29 counts behind. Lyles finished just four of his 21 counts ahead in his start. Chatwood, who starts Tuesday against the Giants, showed how it should be done on Wednesday at Arizona, when he finished ahead or even against all but seven of his 29 batters. After a rough first start last Tuesday, Bettis rebounded Sunday. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 26 hitters he faced, including nine of the last 12. It was progress. "The emphasis is on our attitude," veteran catcher Nick Hundley said. "Go out and win games, having our pitchers win games, believing that we can beat people. We'll win games on the mound as opposed to at the plate." 4 First week for Story, White tough to top By Richard Justice / MLB.com | April 11th 2016 Sometimes things happen that remind us why we love this sport the way we do. Maybe that's ultimately what Rockies shortstop Trevor Story and Astros first baseman Tyler White represent. These two kids -- White is 25, Story 23 -- were long shots to make their clubs in Spring Training. Both had done enough to earn elite prospect status within their two organizations, but neither was considered a can't-miss prospect like a Francisco Lindor or Carlos Correa. Here's what opened eyes: performance. All both players needed was an opportunity. Both started spraying line drives around the field, taking advantage of every opportunity. In Spring Training, White hit .353, Story .340. In the end, the decision for Colorado and Houston to keep both of them on the big league club was no decision at all. That in itself was a sweet story, an accomplishment, the kind both players would remember for the rest of their lives. Baseball people remind us not to trust spring statistics that they mostly don't translate to the regular season. Only that was just the beginning for Story and White. Just when you think baseball can't keep producing waves of amazing young talent, these kids have roared into our hearts and minds with two of the greatest debut weeks in history. Hard to believe that just a few days ago, most baseball fans had never heard of either Story or White. Now their at-bats have become must-watch television, as they've made the most difficult sport on earth look ridiculously easy. Story, the Rockies' No. 11 prospect, started hitting home runs at a pace no one else had ever hit them in his first week -- six in his first four games and seven for the week, along with a .333 batting average. And White almost matched him, getting 10 hits -- including three home runs and a cool .556 batting average -- in six games. On Monday, they became the first players making their debuts to receive the opening Player of the Week honors of a new season, Story in the National League, White in the American League. As they begin their second weeks, Story is leading the Major Leagues in home runs, White in batting average. 5 When players like this make it, they're victories -- not just for the individual players, but for an entire organization. For the scouts who signed them, the instructors who helped develop them and the trainers, doctors, teammates and others who offered assistance. Story was the 45th overall pick of the 2011 Draft, someone scouted both as an athletic shortstop and a pitcher who threw 96 mph. Story hit 70 home runs in five Minor League seasons -- including 20 in 2015 -- so he had power, but not extraordinary power.