Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part look into how Rockies hitters are trying to overcome their Coors Field factor.



SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Charlie Blackmon can’t believe his eyes. The Rockies slugger has seen more than 20,000 pitches in his nine seasons in the major leagues and he has watched them follow any number of nutty paths to the plate. Even then, about every week or so, the Rockies slugger goes cross-eyed in disbelief.



“All the information that I’m getting from my eyes is these are the same pitches,” Blackmon said, confessing to the single greatest disadvantage every Rockies hitter has faced for 27 years.



A pitch follows a peculiar path in the high elevation of Coors Field, but that is Blackmon’s normal. He knows how the arc of a pitch will perform in his home park. He honed that ability over time while watching tens of thousands of pitches there. But the day Blackmon leaves Denver for any of the 25...